CURWENSVILLE – The Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team put together its best two quarters of the season to trail defending Moshannon Valley League champion Harmony by only two points at intermission Monday night, but the Lady Owls exploded for 42 points in the final 16 minutes to depart Patton Hall with a 64-40 victory.
Senior point guard Tess Bloom sparkled for the winless Lady Tide with a career-high 26 points and six rebounds, but her teammates were unable to provide some balance to the offense, collectively netting just five field goals in 39 shots.
All-around standout Alyson Leyo pumped in 26 points and collected 17 rebounds while diminutive playmaker Makenzie Kruise constantly penetrated the Lady Tide defense to find open teammates in addition to contributing 11 points as the Lady Owls balanced their record at 4-4 with their second MVL win.
Lindsay Neff, Harmony\’s third returning starter, also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards, and Alaina Westover accounted for the other 14 points.
Harmony\’s full-court pressure defense gave Curwensville fits in the first quarter. The Lady Tide was guilty of 11 of its 25 turnovers and made only two of 12 shots while falling behind 13-7.
Just when the Lady Owls appeared on the verge of turning it into a runaway on Leyo\’s layup and Kruise\’s free throw in the first minute of the second period, the Lady Tide abruptly changed the complexion of the rough-and-tumble contest.
Bloom swished a 12-footer, Courtney Bachelier and Taylor Bumbarger flipped in short jumpers in the lane, Bachelier was money on another jumper from the right side and Bloom nailed a deep two to give the hosts a 17-16 lead midway through the quarter.
Leyo answered with a putback and jumper from the top of the key, but Bloom\’s steal and layup with 37 seconds left in the half chopped Harmony\’s advantage to 22-20 and had Lady Tide coach Rusty McCracken excited.
\”I have to think it was our most competitive half of the year,\” the first-year coach said. \”We did a lot of very nice things. The girls started understanding a jump stop and jump shot. They got some open looks and hit some shots in that second quarter.
\”There were so many positive things going into halftime that I was very please with the way they played.
\”I\’m not sure what happened in the third quarter.\”
While the Lady Owls shifted into high gear, the Lady Tide remained stuck in neutral, hitting only two of 14 shots to stare at a 37-24 deficit going to the fourth quarter.
Leyo displayed her versatility with nine points in the pivotal period, driving for two, pulling up for a one-hander, swishing a long jumper and converting an offensive rebound for a three-point play.
\”She took over and did a nice job,\” McCracken said. \”She put them on her back and carried them.
\”She does some things I haven\’t seen girls in our area do in a long time. She made one shot down there with Tess hanging all over her. She\’s really a quality player.\”
A three-pointer by Bloom interrupted Harmony\’s 10-3 run for a 47-27 spread with 6:09 remaining, and the Lady Owls reeled off 11 consecutive points for a 60-29 bulge with 2:44 to play.
With less than five minutes left, McCracken called timeout to challenge his players.
\”We had 29 points and I said, \’Girls, I want 40 points tonight. You\’ve gotta keep working hard.\’
\”I didn\’t want them to quit. And they came out, and we got it right at the end. (The 40 points) is the best we\’ve done all year. We just need to pick up our defense and keep the other teams from getting to that plateau.\”
Bloom, for one, responded, scoring Curwensville\’s last 10 points to cap a strong effort, especially considering Harmony went box-and-one on her throughout the second half with the pesky, quick and speedy Kruise hounding her in the offensive end.
\”It\’s a compliment to her that teams think they have to play a box-and-one on her,\” noted McCracken, who said he was surprised Bloom had matched Leyo\’s point total. \”She\’s definitely the focal point of our offense and game. And she works hard for everything she gets. She does create a lot of opportunities for herself. She\’s just a pleasure to watch.\”
The Lady Tide played the Lady Owls to a standoff under the boards with 38 rebounds, one less than the visitors had.
Taylor Bumbarger, moved inside with Shayla Buzard sidelined because of stress fractures in both leg, grabbed a dozen missed shots.
\”Taylor had to play a position she\’s just not comfortable doing, but she does a good job wherever we need her,\” McCracken said. \”We did a good job on the boards. Katie Wriglesworth is averaging about 10 rebounds a game and Katrina Seaburn came in and gave us a lot of good minutes for a freshman.\”
McCracken is hoping more of his underclassmen emerge to earn playing time soon.
\”We just don\’t match up with anybody now,\” he noted. \”We don\’t go more than six deep. Tess was out there the whole game. She would never say it, but she\’s gotta be tired. And a couple others were out there a lot. You could tell they were getting tired.
\”We’ve got to get everybody court ready. Some of them just don’t quite get it yet.\”
Curwensville, 0-5 with three league losses, will be back in action Wednesday, traveling to Allport for a tough MVL test against West Branch.
Coach Bob Eshelman\’s Lady Tide jayvees upped their record to 2-3 with a 35-23 win. Katrina Seaburn was high with 11 points, Becca Johnson scored 10 and Cheyenne Pentz tallied nine.
HARMONY — 64
Alyson Leyo 12 2-4 26, Makenzie Kruise 3 5-7 11, Lindsay Neff 4 4-4 13, Alania Westover 7 0-0 14, Katie Novella 0 0-0 0, Ashley McDonald 0 0-0 0, Ashley Fogle 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 26 11-15 64.
CURWENSVILLE — 40
Tess Bloom 9 7-8 26, Courtney Bachelier 2 1-2 5, Taylor Bumbarger 2 2-3 6, Katie Wriglesworth 0 1-4 1, Savannah Strickland 1 0-0 2, Becca Johnson 0 0-0 0, Katrina Seaburn 0 0-0 0, Paige McCracken 0 0-0 0, Lindsay Barrett 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 11-17 40.
Three-Point Field Goals: Harmony 1 (Neff); Curwensville 1 (Bloom).
Score by Quarters
Harmony 13 9 15 27 – 64
Curwensville 7 13 4 16 – 40
Officials: Brian Smeal, Gary Barr.