Curwensville — It was a night of domination inside Patton Hall on Monday. The Lady Tide of Curwensville got overpowered early and often by the visiting Lady Warriors of West Branch.
West Branch held Curwensville to just six first-half points en route to a 53-25 win.
The biggest moment of the night came late in the second quarter as West Branch’s Rebecca Kephart scored her 1,000th point on a free-throw shot. The crowd showed their appreciation and Kephart had a huge smile on her face as she walked to the sideline to accept the ball she used to make the shot.
When she returned to the court, she and her teammates went back to business and continued their run to victory.
Kephart and Mariah McDowell led the Warriors with 16 points each while Kephart led in rebounds with seven. Jada Larson led in assists with six.
For Curwensville, it was a night of missed opportunities and missed shots as the entire team went only 9 for 52 from the floor. They only attempted seven shots in the first quarter plus two foul shots, and none went in the basket. The second quarter was extremely similar as Savannah Strickland and Tess Bloom made the lone two shots on the floor while Brittany Carter drained two free throws.
The second half saw some improvement from the Lady Tide as Bloom finally got rolling and began making baskets. Bloom ended the night with 12 points, eight of which came in the third quarter.
But, turnovers and missed opportunities were the story of the night. Curwensville turned the ball over 14 times and committed 16 fouls. Two of their key players, Taylor Bumbarger and Katie Wriglesworth, both fouled out in the fourth quarter.
This put Curwensville in a tough spot, but the team played big in the final quarter as they held West Branch to only eight points. Unfortunately, by that time it was too little, too late as the Lady Warriors had built a 30-point lead.
West Branch also won the jayvee match-up, 37-18.
Curwensville (1-10) is back in action Tuesday night as they go on the road to face Ridgway. Tip off set for approximately 7:30 p.m.
West Branch 16 16 13 8 53
Curwensville 0 6 8 11 25
Two-Point Shots: WB-18/41 CV-8/48
Three-Point Shots: WB-0/3 CV-1/4
Rebounds: WB-25 CV-13
Turnovers: WB-10 CV-14
Team Fouls: WB-13 CV-16
West Branch 53
Crowell 0 0-0 0, Kopchik 2 3-3 7, Trude 1 0-0 2, Larson 1 0-0 2, Jarrett 2 2-3 6, Ahlberg 0 0-0 0, Kolesar 2 0-0 4, Coudriet 0 0-0 0, Kephart 5 6-8 16, McDowell 5 6-8 16. Totals 18 17-22 53
Curwensville 25
Strickland 1 0-1 2, Barrett 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 2, Bressler 0 0-0 0, Bumbarger 0 1-2 1, Bachelier 0 1-4 1, Buzzard 1 0-0 3, Bloom 5 2-2 12, Seaburn 1 2-2 4, Wriglesworth 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 6-11 25
Three-Point Buckets: WB-None CV-Buzzard
Foul Outs: WB-None CV-Bumbarger, Wriglesworth