Curwensville — The Curwensville boys basketball team is riding a wave of momentum after their decisive road win earlier in the week. Thursday night, coach Matt Wassil brought his team back home to Patton Hall with hope of another victory.
On the opposing side of the court was the West Branch Warriors, who were looking for their first victory of the season.
After 32 minutes of fast-paced action, it was Curwensville taking advantage of rebounds and turnovers to beat West Branch 57-41.
In the locker room, Wassil credited his players for their tough play and their work in the practices leading up to the game.
“You know, we had a week off after our victory against Johnsonburg, and the kids and staff practiced even harder leading up to this game,” Wassil said. “We began pushing them, like we did in the preseason, and the guys responded.”
The biggest responders were Kyle Barrett and Alec Starr, who combined for 19 of the team’s 28 rebounds. The Warriors held Starr to just two points, but his play near the basket allowed his teammates to get big shots on the opposing end of the court. Alec ended the night with a team-high 10 rebounds and 13 assists.
“Alec has been struggling lately to get points. If Alec isn’t putting the ball in the hoop, then we told him he needed to help in another area of the game,” Wassil said of his senior.
“We told him that before the game and he responded. I give him a lot of credit for this game.”
Barrett also led Curwensville in scoring with 21 points. Seniors Sam Gardner and Jed Greslick also made it into double figures as they accounted for 15 and 12 points respectively.
West Branch managed some success on the floor, mainly from behind the arc as they went 4 of 10 from three-point range. Parker Emigh led the Warriors in scoring with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Chris Beveridge and Ryan Wesesky tied with seven assists each.
Early in the game, Curwensville held a strong lead of eight points, but West Branch fought back quickly to erase the deficit. However, the Warriors could not get a handle on the man-to-man defense of the Tide and failed to get the lead at any point of the game.
“We played up and down the entire game. We would get a lead, then they would fight back and cut down the gap, and then we would come back and get a larger lead at another point,” Wassil said.
“Our man-to-man is our bread and butter. I think we get too relaxed and comfortable in a zone, and we can’t have that. I like our intensity and the guys know their assignments when they play man defense.”
In junior varsity action, Curwensville fell to West Branch, 38-33.
Curwensville (4-6) will take a two-game win streak on the road next Tuesday as they travel north to face the Kane Wolves. Wassil is ready for the game, and will be preparing his team with the same intense practices as he did for Thursday night.
“We are going to work really hard everyday, then the day before the game we’ll spend 30 minutes with intense practice. We will then get into our strategy for the game, and then work hard for the last 15 minutes,” Wassil said.
“I think the kids responded well with the more intense practices and I think it showed tonight.”
Tip off for the junior varsity will be at 6 p.m, with the varsity game to follow.
West Branch 10 14 7 13 41
Curwensville 18 14 13 12 57
Two-Point Shots: WB-14/33 CV-17/49
Three-Point Shots: WB-5/11 CV-5/8
Rebounds: WB-17 CV-28
Turnovers: WB-18 CV-10
Team Fouls: WB-10 CV-9
WEST BRANCH 41
Beveridge 5 1-2 11, Emigh 6 0-0 15, Larson 3 0-0 6, Lidgett 0 0-2 0, Rothrock 0 0-2 0, Smeal 0 0-0 0, Timchak 2 0-0 4, Walk 1 0-0 2, Wesesky 2 0-0 6. TOTALS 18 1-6 41
CURWENSVILLE 57
Barrett 9 3-4 21, Gardner 6 0-0 15, Ireland 0 1-2 1, Greslick 4 3-6 12, Hoover 0 0-0 0, Starr 1 0-0 2, Johnson 1 1-2 4, White 0 0-0 0, Makin 0 0-0 0, S. McGary 0 0-0 0, B. McGary 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 22 8-14 57
Three-Pointers: WB-Emigh (3), Wesesky (2) CV-Gardner (3), Greslick, Johnson