And what a battle it was.
It was the second win of the year for Curwensville over the Warriors as the Tide won at West Branch on January 21, 48-40, with Barrett being the hero of that game, scoring 23.
Even with the bucket by Barrett and free throw by McGary that gave the Tide the lead at 38-36, the Warriors still had a chance to tie the game at the end, but Andrew Larson missed the second of two free throws with just seven seconds left.
The Tide gathered in the rebound on Larson’s missed free throw and managed to run out the clock to pick up the much needed win. Curwensville is now 4-14 for 2010-11 season and the victory on Senior Night broke a four game skid.
West Branch hit three three-pointers in the first period which helped them to an 11-8 edge going into the second. Tyler Rothrock had two of the treys for the Warriors in the opening eight minutes.
Tide senior Alec Starr had six of his overall 12 points in the first frame, which kept the Tide within striking distance.
The Warriors would increase their lead by four before the break by outscoring their hosts 12-11 in the second period, going out in front 23-19.
In the second half West Branch quickly jumped out to their biggest margin of the night, 29-21, on a bucket by Rothrock.
The Tide refused to pack it in however and went on a 10-0 run that lasted from near the end of the third until the early minutes of the fourth period to go out in front 31-29.
Curwensville would actually stretch its lead to 35-31 before the Warriors roared back and went back out in front 36-35 on a basket by senior Scott Carr.
Then Barrett and McGary pulled off their heroics to seal the Tide victory.
Curwensville head coach Matt Wassil talked about the close win, “It was stressful, but it was great to see the seniors pick up this win on Senior Night because they all contributed. They really dug in when we got behind but they didn‘t give in. And it‘s nice to get a win like that when you come back after being down. With four games left maybe this will help us to finish strong.”
Barrett led the Tide with 13 points while Rothrock dumped in 14 for the Warriors, now 5-13, with teammate Aaron Lidgett adding 10.
The Curwensville junior varsity squad won the evening’s opening game by defeating the Warriors 42-39.
Curwensville will return to the hardwood Tuesday night in a home contest against Sheffield. The Allegheny Mountain League game starts with the JV battle at 6 pm with the varsity to immediately follow.
WEST BRANCH – 37
Tyler Rothrock 6 0-0 14, Scott Carr 2 0-0 4, Aaron Lidgett 4 0-0 10, Parker Emigh 2 2-2 6, Andrew Larson 0 1-2 1 , Mike Pennington 0 0-0 0, Chris Kent 1 0-0 2, Steve Smeal 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 15 3-4 37.
CURWENSVILLE – 38
Alec Starr 5 1-2 12, Tanner Elensky 2 0-2 4, Kyle Barrett 5 3-6 13, Boone McGary 1 0-0 2, Shelby McGary 2 2-6 6, Shane Hoover 0 0-0 0, Will Rauckhorst 0 1-2 1, Dan Davis 0 0-0 0, Jesse Zorger 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 15 7-18 38.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
WEST BRANCH 11 12 6 8 37
CURWENSVILLE 8 11 9 10 38
THREE-POINTERS: WEST BRANCH – 4 Rothrock 2, Lidgett 2 CURWENSVILLE – 1 Starr
OFFICIALS: Lee Martell, Marv Martell
