ALLPORT – The winless Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team hung with West Branch for 16 minutes, but Jada Larson drained a trio of three-pointers as the host Lady Warriors took command in the third period enroute to a 44-31 Moshannon Valley League victory Thursday night.
Six points by Hannah Walls sparked the Lady Tide to a 12-9 lead in the first quarter, but West Branch\’s switch from a man defense to a zone stalled the Curwensville offense in the second period, creating a 17-17 stalemate after 16 minutes.
\”We really played hard in the first half,\” Lady Tide coach Vic Gearhart said. \”Jenessa (Stiles) did a great job on (Rebecca) Kephart. She was giving up a lot of size.
\”Really, everybody did a good job defensively. And we shot well.
\”We really were happy to be tied at halftime.\”
West Branch\’s 3-2 zone continued to pose problems in the last two quarters, when Walls accounted for 10 of the Lady Tide\’s 14 points.
\”Their zone really changed our offensive abilities,\” Gearhart noted. \”We moved the ball more, and we had some shots, but we rushed them. Our shot selection wasn\’t nearly as good as in the first half.\”
He cited Larson\’s three-pointers as the difference when the Lady Warriors opened a 31-23 lead going to the fourth quarter.
Walls\’ 19 points took game honors, but only three other Lady Tide players scored, Tess Bloom next with six points.
Kephart and Larson netted 14 and 12 points, respectively, for West Branch, which evened its MVL record at 3-3 and climbed to 9-6 for the season.
The Lady Tide, 0-5 in the league and 0-15 overall, will host Allegheny Mountain League North Division champion Johnsonburg Friday night.
West Branch won the junior varsity game 31-24. Savannah Strickland scored 11 points for Curwensville.
Moshannon Valley League Standings – Harmony 4-0, Moshannon Valley 5-2, West Branch 3-3, Glendale 2-4, Curwensville 0-5.
CURWENSVILLE — 31
Hannah Walls 7 5-10 19, Tess Bloom 3 0-0 6, Alesia Bressler 0 0-0 0, Jenessa Stiles 1 0-0 2, Taylor Bumbarger 2 0-0 4, Shayla Buzard 0 0-0 0, Sara Sidelinger 0 0-0 0, Savannah Strickland 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 5-10 31.
WEST BRANCH — 44
Victoria Jarrett 0 1-4 1, Roni Crowell 1 2-2 5, Jada Larson 4 1-2 12, Bethany Kopchik 2 2-3 6, Rebecca Kephart 6 2-4 14, Mariah McDowell 2 2-6 6. TOTALS: 15 10-21 44.
Three-Point Field Goals: West Branch 4 (Crowell 1, Larson 3).
Score by Quarters
Curwensville 12 5 6 8 – 31
West Branch 9 8 14 13 – 44
