On the final buzzer last season, the Curwensville boy\’s basketball team had tasted defeat, one that tasted sour. They were losing seven players to graduation, and were left to wonder what the season could have been.
Now, that 7-15 season is put in the past, and head coach Matt Wassil has gotten his team ready for a new campaign, one that he hopes will be a success.
“You know, we lost a lot of seniors. But, we had guys that over the off season and from the J.V. team that are ready to step up and help the varsity guys,” Wassil said.
Saturday afternoon, the Golden Tide basketball squad got their first taste of competition as they held a scrimmage against the Union Knights. Both teams played extremely hard, but Wassil was visibly upset at what his team was doing in their first two quarters of play.
Missed shots and bad passes were common, but the critical part according to Wassil was that they were not communicating on the court.
“We had a horrendous first half, that’s no question. I told our guys that if they played that way the entire game, I’d be talking about how we could’ve won instead of how we won the game,” Wassil said.
But, as the team progressed, the senior members showed their leadership and brought the team together, and their strong play showed it.
The 2009-10 team has a lot of young players, as Wassil stated, but they are experienced and he expects a lot from the team. Seniors Sam Gardner and Billy White return, but Wassil says the addition of having Jed Greslick return to the team will be a big factor.
“Jed could not play last year and that hurt us, but he brings a lot to the team and will be a strong leader,” Wassil said.
Many players that were on last year’s junior varsity squad have made the move up to the varsity team. Among those that have made the move are Kyle Barrett, David Vasbinder and Shelby McGary. The experience on that team last year Wassil believes will make the team stronger.
However, Wassil was still not entirely happy with his team as the scrimmage progressed. Afterwards, he spoke of the one thing he and his team would work on in the upcoming week.
“We need to work on being more consistent. We cannot have just two good quarters of play,” Wassil said. “This is going to be an intense week of practice. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be intense. Then Thursday, we’ll start putting together a game plan.
The 2009-10 season for the Golden Tide tips off Friday night as they play host to the Moshannon Valley Black Knights. The junior varsity game will start at 6 p.m. with the varsity game to follow at approximately 7:30.
Roster: