CURWENSVILLE – Having split a pair of close games in their own tip-off tournament last week gave the Brockway Lady Rovers an edge that was quite noticeable in Patton Hall Wednesday night as they spoiled Curwensville\’s opener 46-28 in Allegheny Mountain League South Division action.
\”It was obvious,\” Lady Tide coach Vic Gearhart said. \”They were a lot more comfortable out on the floor. We had first-game jitters.
\”Things we\’ve done well in practice and in our scrimmage, we didn\’t execute tonight.\”
Curwensville, bothered somewhat by Brockway\’s full-court pressure but more by subpar shooting and a lack of rebounding, couldn\’t break into double digits in scoring the first three quarters, netting almost half of its points in the final 6:05.
The Lady Tide, led by junior Tess Bloom\’s 11 points, was guilty of 17 turnovers but hit only 11 of 44 shots for 25 percent and was on the short end of the 37-27 rebound totals. Bloom and backcourt mate Hannah Walls grabbed six missed shots apiece.
\”It seemed like we turned the ball over more than we did, but we just couldn\’t get any continuity,\” Gearhart said. \”There were so many bobbles and indecisions. We struggled just to get shots.
\”They moved the ball and hit shots. I was surprised with their outside shooting.\”
Most of Brockway\’s points came from inside 12 feet, though, with 5-11 junior Michelle Mancuso dominating post play for a game-high 12 points and almost as many rebounds and LeeAnn Holt adding 10 points from close range.
\”We need to improve our inside play, both man and zone,\” Gearhart said. \”And we have to cut off of cutters and come down and give some help and scramble around. We just haven\’t picked up that intensity yet.\”
Second-year Brockway coach Mike Slimmer has a veteran squad boasting three seniors, including Holt, who are working on their fourth letters, and two-year letterwinner Mancuso that eked out one-point and three-point wins over Curwensville last season.
With three returning starters and two other letterwinners on his team, Gearhart was expecting a much different game.
\”I don\’t know why we didn\’t play them tighter than we did, because I think we matched up well with them,\” he said. \”I\’m not taking anything away from Brockway. They played a good game.\”
One big difference was the that the Lady Rovers were more active on both ends of the court with their motion offense and tight, man defense.
Bloom\’s layup off a nice pass from Alesia Bressler got the Lady Tide even at 2-2 with 1:22 gone, but the hosts had to play catch-up the rest of the way.
Down 12-5 at the first rest stop, Curwensville pulled to within three points, 15-12, with 1:45 remaining in the half on two driving layups by Bloom.
However, the Lady Rovers scored the last six points of the second period, with Mancuso cashing an offensive rebound with a short jumper in the lane and then grabbing a missed Lady Tide free throw with six seconds left and dribbling the length of the court to tack on a buzzer-beating shot to make it a 21-12 game.
\”We had some really good shots we didn\’t convert,\” Gearhart said in looking back at the first half. \”If we make the layups we missed and make our foul shots, we\’re in the ball game at halftime.\”
The Lady Tide started the third quarter with three turnovers and two missed shots, allowing the Lady Rovers to widen their lead to 29-12.
\”We put our heads down, and we never got back in the ball game,\” Gearhart said.
Curwensville never got closer than 15 points after that. Ten of the Lady Tide\’s 12 points in the fourth period came in the final 4:27.
Rebounding will be one area the Lady Tide coaching staff will address going forward.
\”It\’s the same thing as last year,\” Gearhart explained. \”The shot goes up and we\’re right underneath the rim, not pushing ourselves back into rebounding position. We\’re gonna have to get stronger on rebounding.\”
He is confident his team will build off its first outing.
\”I saw some good things out there,\” he said. \”The effort\’s there. They were disappointed in the result, and I think they\’re determined to improve. We just need to keep plugging away.\”
The Lady Tide will be back in action Friday in another AML-South game at Ridgway (0-3, 0-1).
In the prelim, Ann Moyer and Sara Guilyard scored eight points apiece to lead Brockway to a 36-14 win. Katie Wriglesworth topped Curwensville\’s junior varsity with six points.
BROCKWAY — 46
LeeAnn Holt 5 0-0 10, Sasha Fields 2 0-0 4, Julie Genevro 3 0-0 6, Jalina Sabatose 3 0-0 6, Michelle Mancuso 5 2-4 12, Sarah Anderson 0 0-0 0, Cinnamon Monteville 0 2-4 2, Zoe Hawkins 1 0-0 2, Lee Ann Crawford 1 0-0 2, Shelby Hoover 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Daub 0 0-0 0, Kelli Yale 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 21 4-8 46.
CURWENSVILLE — 28
Hannah Walls 1 4-6 6, Tess Bloom 5 1-3 11, Alesia Bressler 3 0-0 6, Jenessa Stiles 0 1-2 1, Taylor Bumbarger 1 0-0 2, Sara Sidelinger 0 0-0 0, Shayla Buzard 0 0-2 0, Courtney Bachelier 0 0-0 0, Savannah Strickland 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 11 6-13 28.
Score by Quarters
Brockway 12 9 15 10 – 46
Curwensville 5 7 4 12 – 28
Officials: Sam Bevak and Jerry Carnicella.
