The 6’6″ junior reserve ended the hopes of the Golden Tide sweeping Kane on the year after Curwensville had beaten Kane on the road on January 4, 51-43.
Kane ended the 2011-12 season with only it’s second win to finish at 2-20 and end a 12-game losing streak with the road win.
Curwensville now stands at 3-16 for the year with just two games remaining.
Curwensville went out in front in the first period 16-9, thanks to a 6-0 run, but Kane finished the opening frame with a 5-0 run of it’s own to trail just by two after one period, 16-14.
Tanner Elensky and Brett Gardner were the focal point of the Tide offense in the first period with Elensky scoring eight and Gardner six. Elensky would lead all scorers in the game as the sophomore dumped in 24 points.
The Wolves and Tide would go back and forth for much of the second quarter before Jeff Kojancic hit a three-pointer with 45 seconds remaining in the half to give Kane a 25-24 lead at the intermission.
A 7-0 run by Curwensville to start the third period put the Tide back in front at 31-25 and a bucket by Kyle Johns at the buzzer to end the third gave Curwensville a seven point lead, 35-28.
However, Kane would put together perhaps it’s best eight minutes of play all season long in the fourth and final period as they outscored Curwensville 22-13 to pull out a come from behind victory.
Kojancic put Kane ahead, 48-47, with just 23 seconds remaining with a lay-up.
On the next possession for Curwensville, Elensky was fouled and went to the charity stripe for a one and one with just 11.6 seconds left.
The first shot was good by Elensky, knotting the score at 48-48, but after missing the second attempt Kane pulled down the rebound and promptly called a timeout.
The Wolves went the length of the Patton Hall gymnasium after play resumed and with just a little over one second to play the Kane missed shot was put back in on a tip by Stefani as the buzzer sounded to secure the win.
Curwensville head coach, Shane Pentz, spoke afterwards, “I thought that we played very hard. It just came down to the fact they made the plays at the end and we didn’t. We had some opportunities we didn’t take advantage of, but they did.”
Then Pentz added, “It was an up and down kind of basketball game. Neither team wanted to hold the ball for a long time. Both squads are young and I know we have gotten a lot better, so that should carryover into next year.”
Johns helped the Tide offense with 11 and Brett Gardner added nine.
Kane had three players in double figures with Kojancic and Tyler Ennis each having 14, followed by 12 from Sean Rolick.
The junior varsity game was won by the Golden Tide in defeating the Wolves by a score of 40-33.
The Golden Tide will play again on Monday when they travel to Allport to meet West Branch . The JV game starts at 6 pm and the varsity will follow immediately.
The Warriors beat the Tide in the first game, in Curwensville, on January 20, 63-40.
KANE – 50
Sean Rolick 4 3-5 12, Tyler Ennis 7 0-0 14, Tyler Laurie 1 0-0 2, Jeff Kojancic 6 0-1 14, Andrew Peirson 1 0-0 2, Pete Sirianni 0 0-0 0, A. J. Stefani 3 0-0 6, John Bedford 0 0-0 0, Zane Hodgdon 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 22 3-6 50.
CURWENSVILLE – 48
Brett Gardner 4 0-2 9, Kyle Johns 5 1-2 11, Tanner Elensky 7 10-15 24, Alex Olson 2 0-0 4, Austin Jacobson 0 0-0 0, Marcus Stephenson 0 0-0 0, Nate Kurtz 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 18 11-19 48.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
KANE 14 11 3 22 50
CURWENSVILLE 16 8 11 13 48
THREE-POINTERS: Kojancic 2, Rolick, Gardner
OFFICIALS: Tim Barnes, Craig Witherow
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 | 55 – 43 | 2 – 14 |
| 02/07 | @ Sheffield | 41 – 77 | 2 – 15 |
| 02/08 | MO VALLEY | 49 – 38 | 3 – 15 |
| 02/10 | KANE | 48 – 50 | 3 – 16 |
| 02/13 | @ West Branch | ||
| 02/15 | @ Mo Valley |