CURWENSVILLE – An inspirational, season-best performance by the Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team went unrewarded Friday night when Kane rallied in the second half to force overtime and then escaped with a 43-34 non-league victory.
After controlling the tempo by playing tough defense, battling under the boards and scrapping and hustling all over the court, the Lady Tide saw its first win, and one of the biggest District 9 upsets of the season, slip away on two Kane putbacks in the final 21 seconds of the fourth quarter, the equalizer coming with just five ticks remaining.
Then, the Lady Wolves (16-5) outscored the Lady Tide 9-0 in the extra period to spoil what would have been a perfect ending to a special night for the hosts.
It was Fight Cancer Night in Patton Hall, as the Lady Tide Basketball Booster Club, thanks to fund-raisers and donations from the community, honored the memory of former Curwensville coach Alan Fairman with a halftime ceremony highlighted by the presentation of $832 checks to representatives of The Nathaniel D. Yingling Cancer Center in Clearfield and the Hahne Cancer Center in DuBois.
Fairman, who also coached at DuBois Central Christian, passed away in March of 2006. His widow, Joyce, and son, Derek, and his wife, Lindsay, were on hand.
\”I\’m sure having the Fairman family here inspired these kids, because there\’s still such good feelings about what coach Fairman did here,\” Lady Tide coach Vic Gearhart said. \”These girls all played for him through junior high or elementary levels, so he\’s very much a part of their lives.
\”I don\’t know if that was the inspiration or not, but it certainly seemed like there was something there, a little bit extra. They played harder than they normally do.
\”It was a great effort. It just seems a shame they weren’t rewarded for it.\”
Gearhart resorted to a gimmick defense, a triangle-and-one with Hannah Walls as a freelancer, to keep the Kane offense in check, especially 1,000-Point Club member Bree Bergman and point guard Chelsea Mague.
Bergman, sporting a 15.2 average, had a very difficult time netting the eight points she needed to supplant 1998 graduate Jessica McDivitt as Kane\’s all-time leading scorer. Her 1,038th career point came on a free throw with 6:03 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 5-10 senior finished with just one field goal and 10 points.
Mague was escorted by Tess Bloom as soon as she crossed mid-court and wound up with 12 points only after accounting for the last seven in overtime.
\”We went to a triangle because we wanted to occupy the three key rebounding positions with (Alesia) Bressler and (Taylor) Bumbarger on the low blocks and (Jenessa) Stiles in the middle,\” Gearhart explained. \”Tess drew Mague all over the floor, \’cause she\’s the ball handler, and Hannah freelanced on the ball side to double and fill in the gaps. They did a good job.
\”We really had them kind of stymied. I think we really frustrated them.\”
Whether it was the Lady Tide defense, or just cold shooting, the Lady Wolves found it next to impossible putting the pink-and-white ball provided by the Lady Tide Basketball Booster Club through the hoops. They managed only 13 field goals in 70 attempts.
That was a big reason Curwensville was able to play almost an entire game with the lead. Kane inched in front only two times, 4-3 late in the first period and 28-27 with 5:15 left in the fourth quarter.
An improbable three-pointer from the right sideline by Bumbarger gave the Lady Tide an 8-4 edge at the first rest stop and keyed an 11-point run that made it 14-4 with 2:14 into the second quarter.
Walls tossed in six of her nine points in the period as Curwensville took a 16-11 into the half, at which point the Lady Wolves were 3-for-33 from the field.
Kane started each of the first three quarters by going more than four minutes without a point. In the third period, Bloom stole the ball on three consecutive possessions to help Curwensville enjoy its biggest lead, 22-11, before Mague hit a free throw with 2:49 left.
Two foul shots and a putback by Bergman around a Mague bucket sliced the margin to 22-18 going to the fourth quarter, when both teams accelerated the scoring pace.
After Ashley Wilson\’s three-pointer that gave Kane its fourth-quarter lead, Bressler answered with a short jumper and grabbed a loose ball under the basket and banked in two more points. Bloom\’s foul shot set the score at 32-28 with 1:39 to play.
Bergman converted two of her eight free throws 14 seconds later, but Bressler stepped to the line with 32 seconds on the clock and made two pressure shots for a 34-30 lead.
However, the Lady Tide couldn\’t keep the Lady Wolves off the boards in the waning seconds. Following 5-10 freshman Drew Victory\’s putback, Kane\’s full-court zone press forced a turnover.
Kane retained possession when Curwensville couldn\’t come up with the rebound on Emily Carlson\’s miss with nine seconds remaining. Natalie Kossack\’s ensuing miss from the right baseline was grabbed by Wilson on the opposite side of the basket for the game-tying putback.
\”They\’re just a stronger rebounding team,\” Gearhart said. \”They\’re a good team. They have been there. They weren\’t panicking. They just keep pecking away.
\”We’ve never been in that situation. I know they were nervous, but I am so proud of their effort. You can’t take anything away from what they did out there tonight.\”
It was all Kane in the extra four minutes. Kalie Walter put the Lady Wolves ahead for keeps with jumper from the right side, her only points of the game 11 seconds after Bergman won the tip, and Mague dropped in a long set shot before adding five points in four trips to the foul line.
The Lady Tide misfired on all seven shots.
Bressler was high for Curwensville with 13 points. Bumbarger matched Walls\’ nine.
\”Alesia played her best game, by far,\” Gearhart said. \”She was active on both ends of the floor. And Bummy hit some shots early. She worked hard.\”
Kossack grabbed 15 rebounds for Kane, which had beaten Curwensville 61-26 on Jan. 13.
\”That was a big turnaround,\” Gearhart said. \”I think they earned some respect anyway. They have to feel better about their effort.
\”But I know there’s some disappointed (players).\”
During pre-game warm-ups, both teams wore pink T-shirts supplied by the Lady Tide Basketball Booster Club.
The Lady Tide will close the season next week with home games against Clearfield Monday and Glendale Thursday before their finale Friday against Bucktail at Renovo.
Kane also came from behind to win the junior varsity game 36-24. Wilson and Emily Carlson scored 12 and 10 points, respectively. Katie Wriglesworth netted 10 for Curwensville.
KANE — 43
Bree Bergman 1 8-10 10, Chelsea Mague 2 8-12 12, Natalie Kossack 3 0-0 6x, Kalie Walter 1 0-0 2, Andrea Saquin 2 0-0 4, Emily Carlson 0 0-0 0, Ashley Wilson 3 0-0 7, Drew Victory 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 13 16-22 43.
CURWENSVILLE — 34
Hannah Walls 3 3-4 9, Tess Bloom 0 3-4 3, Alesia Bressler 5 3-5 13, Jenessa Stiles 0 0-0 0, Taylor Bumbarger 4 0-2 9, Sara Sidelinger 0 0-0 0, Shayla Buzard 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 9-15 34.
Three-Point Field Goals: Kane 1 (Wilson); Curwensville 1 (Bumbarger).
Score by Quarters:
Kane 4 7 7 16 9 – 43
Curwensville 8 8 6 12 0 – 34
Officials: Rich Gormont and Bill Zupich.
