CURWENSVILLE – North Division champion Johnsonburg, No. 3 behind only undefeated Ridgway and Brookville in this week’s Bradford Era/D9Sports.com District 9 basketball rankings, handed struggling Curwensville a 55-28 setback in an Allegheny Mountain League crossover game on the Patton Hall hardwood Friday night.
The Rams (14-3) limited the Golden Tide to pairs of field goals in each of the first three quarters with a suffocating man defense, shot 44.2 percent and piled up a 35-17 rebounding advantage for their second five-game winning streak of the season.
“Johnsonburg is very good,” Curwensville coach Shane Pentz said following his team’s ninth loss in a row. “They’re athletic. They’re quick. They pass the ball well. They can shoot the ball.
“And when they missed, they rebounded the ball and put it back in.”
Sophomores Cameron Grumley and Cole Peterson scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, to pace a balanced offense by the Rams, who have lost only to 16-0 Ridgway 45-38 and 39-38 and 14-3 Brookville 64-53 in overtime.
Tanner Elensky scored nine points, had four assists and made three steals while Brett Gardner added eight points for the Golden Tide, which is down to eight players, all of whom also saw action in the junior varsity prelim.
The Rams showcased their sharp shooting and crisp passing throughout the 24 minutes the varsity players were on the floor.
Johnsonburg complemented a quartet of three-pointers with several fast-break lay-ups plus bunnies off good dribble penetration and assists against the Golden Tide zones in building a 38-9 halftime cushion. A 12-0 run in the first three minutes of the second quarter made it 27-4.
“We missed three wide-open layups and probably two or three more that were mildly contested,” Pentz noted.
He attributed part of that to the presence of 6-5 Michael Shuey in the low post.
“The last two games, (Michael) Wigfield (of Glendale) and Shuey really have away taken our guys’ concentration,” Pentz said.
Consecutive three-pointers by Mitch Holmberg, Kyle Sheldon and Grumley polished off the Rams’ 13-point run that started a running clock at 51-11 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
With Johnsonburg ahead 55-14, coach Bill Shuey inserted his JV starters for the fourth quarter, and the Golden Tide doubled its scoring output to make the final more respectable.
The Golden Tide, which lost 60-23 at Johnsonburg on Jan. 10, shot 24.4 percent with 11 field goals.
The hosts had only six rebounds in the first half and eight through three quarters. They wound up with 15 turnovers, four more than Johnsonburg.
Kyle Johns matched Elensky’s three steals.
The Golden Tide totaled eight assists, while the Rams had 18 on their 23 field goals.
Curwensville (1-14) is booked for four games next week. Three of them will be in Patton Hall against Harmony Monday, Moshannon Valley Wednesday and Kane Friday. The Golden Tide will make the long bus trip to Sheffield Tuesday.
Curwensville, led by Austin Jacobson’s eight points, won the junior varsity game 38-33.
JOHNSONBURG — 55
Cameron Grumley 4 0-0 11, Kyle Sheldon 2 0-0 5, Quinn Luhr 4 0-0 8, Cole Peterson 4 0-0 10, Michael Shuey 2 2-3 6, Mitch Holmberg 3 0-0 7, Frank Kocjancic 3 0-0 6, Bill Bliss 1 0-0 2, Christian Cherry 0 0-0 0, Nathan Field 0 0-0 0, Mason Walters 0 0-0 0, Brian Feronti 0 0-0 0, Calvin Moore 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23 2-3 55.
CURWENSVILLE — 28
Tanner Elensky 4 1-1 9, Kyle Johns 0 0-0 0, Brett Gardner 3 0-0 8, Alex Olson 1 2-2 4, Austin Jacobson 2 0-1 4, Nate Kurtz 0 0-0 0, Marcus Stephenson 0 0-0 0, Nick London 1 0-0 3. TOTALS: 11 3-4 28.
Three-Point Field Goals – Johnsonburg 7 (Grumley 3, Sheldon, Peterson 2, Holmberg); Curwensville 3 (Gardner 2, London).
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Johnsonburg 15 23 17 0 – 55
Curwensville 4 5 5 14 – 28
Officials – Rob Murphy and Bill Overly.
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/13 | BROCKWAY | 31 – 73 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/16 | @ Ridgway | 21 – 60 | 0 – 2 |
| 12/22 | @ Harmony | 28 – 40 | 0 – 3 |
| 12/28 | @ Punxsutawney | 20 – 50 | 0 – 4 |
| 12/30 | @ Glendale | 29 – 62 | 0 – 5 |
| 01/04 | @ Kane | 51 – 43 | 1 – 5 |
| 01/06 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | 26 – 72 | 1 – 6 |
| 01/10 | @ Johnsonburg | 23 – 60 | 1 – 7 |
| 01/13 | HARMONY | ppd. | 1 – 7 |
| 01/17 | @ Elk County Catholic | 36 – 51 | 1 – 8 |
| 01/20 | WEST BRANCH | 40 – 63 | 1 – 9 |
| 01/24 | RIDGWAY | 28 – 60 | 1 – 10 |
| 01/27 | @ Brockway | 37 – 59 | 1 – 11 |
| 01/30 | @ DuBois Central | 41 – 65 | 1 – 12 |
| 02/01 | GLENDALE | 32 – 69 | 1 – 13 |
| 02/03 | JOHNSONBURG | 28 – 55 | 1 – 14 |
| 02/06 | HARMONY | ||
| 02/07 | @ Sheffield | ||
| 02/08 | MO VALLEY | ||
| 02/10 | KANE | ||
| 02/13 | @ West Branch | ||
| 02/15 | @ Mo Valley |
