CURWENSVILLE – Johnsonburg defused a Curwensville comeback with a 10-1 run in the final 3:09 of the third quarter and then pulled away to a 48-29 victory in an Allegheny Mountain League boys crossover game on the Patton Hall hardwood Tuesday night.
The Golden Tide had fought back from a 13-point deficit midway through the second period with a 16-4 run wrapped around intermission, forging a 25-25 tie on Kyle Barrett’s baseline jumper four minutes into the second half.
However, Curwensville missed nine of its last 10 shots and turned the ball over 14 times, including its first five possessions of the fourth quarter.
Shane Hoover’s third three-pointer of the game averted a goose egg for the Golden Tide in the final period, while the Rams tacked on 13 points to outscore their hosts 23-4 over the last 11 minutes.
“They changed defenses to a 1-3-1 zone, and that was the difference,” coach Matt Wassil said after Curwensville fell to 2-8. “When they were man-to-man, we struggled at first. But then we settled down and the kids did a great job battling back.
“We got it to five at halftime, and then they came out in the zone. We’ve struggled with the zone all year.
“It was turnovers and we couldn’t make a shot. They just capitalized off that. After it was 25-25, they never looked back.”
Louie Imbrogno led the Rams to their fifth win in nine games by pumping in 18 points.
He burned the Golden Tide with his first four shots from behind the arc as Johnsonburg built its 21-9 lead with 4:20 left in the half.
Quinn Luhr also nailed a trey and flipped in two layups to team with Imbrogno for Johnsonburg’s first 19 points.
Wassil credited his reserves for getting the Golden Tide untracked after another slow start that allowed the Rams to grab an 11-3 lead in the first quarter.
“I think our bench really sparked us,” he said. “They started to pick up their pace a little bit, pick up their intensity. And, then, even the starters, when I put them back in, were playing a little harder, too.
“Once again, early on, we were turning the ball over and not getting any shots. As it went on, we slowed that down a little bit, we didn’t turn the ball over and we got shots.”
Curwensville’s rally that wiped out Johnsonburg’s double-digit lead was keyed by Hoover with a pair of three-pointers and Boone McGary with two short jumpers, one a fadeaway on the left baseline and the other a bank off an in-bounds pass that knotted the score at 23.
After the teams traded baskets, Luhr put the Rams in front to stay with two free throws.
The Golden Tide never recovered.
“We just seemed to turn it over and then settled for jump shots,” Wassil said. “We never tried to get in the gaps like you have to against a zone.
“I just talked with the kids in the locker room and said that when teams play zone, you have to make two guys play one, and that’s by getting in those gaps. We just weren’t doing it.
“We were passing east-west around the perimeter and just settling for a jump shot. And we weren’t making jump shots.”
Freshman Calvin Grumley came off the bench to give Johnsonburg a boost with three field goals in the final 2:06 of the third quarter, which ended with the Golden Tide in a 35-26 hole that just got deeper as the final eight minutes ticked away.
The Ram shot 39.1 percent with 18 field goals in 46 attempts and outrebounded the Golden Tide 28-18.
Curwensville was 12-for-37 for 32.4 percent and wound up with 26 turnovers, six more than Johnsonburg had.
The Golden Tide goes on the road Thursday to play Harmony in a Moshannon Valley League game.
The Johnsonburg jayvees also were victorious, 52-26. Kyle Johns scored 14 points for the Curwensville underclassmen.
JOHNSONBURG — 48
Luke Shreffler 0 0-0 0, Quinn Luhr 3 2-2 9, Mitch Holmberg 1 0-0 2, Louie Imbrogno 7 0-0 18, Bill Bliss 1 0-0 2, J.P. Allegretto 0 0-0 0, Mitch Vallone 0 0-0 0, Frank Kocjancic 1 1-2 3, Cole Peterson 1 4-4 6, Cameron Grumley 4 0-0 8, Kyle Sheldon 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 7-8 48.
CURWENSVILLE — 29
Alec Starr 2 1-4 5, Shane Hoover 3 1-3 10, Kyle Barrett 3 0-0 6, Boone McGary 2 0-0 4, Shelby McGary 0 0-0 0, Tanner Elensky 0 0-0 0, Will Rauckhorst 0 0-0 0, Jesse Zorger 2 0-0 4, Kyle Johns 0 0-0 0, Alex Olson 0 0-0 0, Brett Gardner 0 0-0 0, Trevon Pennington 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 2-7 29.
Three-Point Field Goals – Johnsonburg 5 (Luhr, Imbrogno 4); Curwensville 3 (Hoover 3).
Score by Quarters
Johnsonburg 11 10 14 13 – 48
Curwensville 3 13 10 3 – 29
Officials – Tim Barnes and Chris Sherkel.
