CURWENSVILLE — In a game between two very talented teams, it was the DuBois Central Catholic Cardinals that ended the night on the winning end as they defeated the Curwensville Golden Tide, 63-57. Still, Tide Head Coach Wassil said that it wasn’t a matter of doing anything wrong, his team simply got beat.
“It was a very good, competitive game. We simply lost to a good team,” said Wassil in the locker room. “In a game like this between two teams that have this much talent, someone’s got to lose.”
His squad put up a valiant effort, with Sam Gardner leading the team in scoring, assists and rebounds. Gardener got 15 of his team high 17 points in the second half, while also acquiring eight assists and seven rebounds. Both Ben McGary and David Kalgren got into double-digit scoring as McGary netted 16 points and Kalgren accounted for ten.
Wassil said what kept Curwensville in the game was their defense along with the rebounding in the second half.
“I think our inside guys (Gardner, Dixon, McGary) were excellent tonight. They got big rebounds and got some fast breaks that kept it close,” said Wassil.
The Cardinals were able to get a big lead early in the game, especially behind the arc. Joe McNally led in scoring for the Cardinals with 27 points, 18 of which came in the second quarter and all were from three-point distance.
“We knew McNally was a good shooter, and he hit a lot of good transition shots and we just couldn’t get down defending in time,” said Wassil.
No other Cardinal players were in double-digit scoring. Taylor Pentz accounted for seven points, but also led the team in assists with seven. John Ferraraccio led the Cardinals in rebounds with six.
Wassil says that his team got back into the game because of switching their defensive coverage and creating steals and turnovers.
“McNally and (Kelsey) Gulvas were hitting shots in our zone that gave them a big lead,” said Wassil. “We switched to a man-to-man defense and it make them work harder and make some mistakes.”
Still, with six games left in the season, Wassil says that his team still has their confidence high.
“The kids now see that they weren’t playing to their potential earlier in the year, and they have gotten better each game,” said Wassil. “Our team was good tonight, nearly perfect, so hopefully they’ll feed of this game and finish the season strong.”
In the Junior Varsity game, DuBois Central Catholic defeated Curwensville 48-31.
The Cardinals (13-2) will host Johnsonburg on Wednesday night while the Tide (5-11) play host to Harmony.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
D.C. C. 9 20 20 14 63
Curwensville 5 12 19 21 57
GAME STATISTICS
FIELD GOALS: D.C. Catholic-21/28; Curwensville-23/35
THREE POINT SHOTS: D.C. Catholic-McNally (7), Gulvas (3), Gangewere; Curwensville-Kalgren (2), Gardner, McGary
TEAM FOULS: D.C. Catholic-12; Curwensville-12
FOUL SHOTS: D.C. Catholic-7/8; Curwensville-7/9
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
D.C. CATHOLIC: McNally-9/12, 27 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists; Pentz-3/3, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists
CURWENSVILLE: Gardner-7/10, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 8 assists; McGary-9/10, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists; Kalgren-4/8, 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
