CURWENSVILLE — Katrina Seaburn posted a double-double and was joined in double figure scoring by Rebecca Johnson and Ciara Strickland and double figure rebounding by Tiffany Carter as the Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team picked up a much-needed victory at the expense of winless Ridgway Tuesday night in Patton Hall.
Seaburn grabbed a game-high 13 missed shots to go with 10 points, while Johnson and Strickland scored 17 and 13 points, respectively, and Carter pulled down 11 rebounds.
Though far from pretty, the 58-29 win over a team averaging only 15 points a game put the brakes on a three-game slide and fanned the Lady Tide’s hopes for extending their season next month.
“This was big,” coach Rusty McCracken said after Curwensville (6-7) completed the season sweep of the Lady Elkers despite shooting just 31 percent (22-for-71) from the floor and 43 percent (13-for-30) at the foul line.
“We’ve got to put some W’s up there for a couple of reasons,” he added. “We’re looking to, hopefully, get to a playoff somewhere.”
The Lady Tide are still in the thick of the Allegheny Mountain League South Division hunt at 3-2 and must secure two more wins by Feb. 8 to qualify for the District 9 Class AA Tournament.
But they won’t achieve either of those goals if they don’t boost their shooting percentages.
Especially on second-chance opportunities.
Of Curwensville’s 42 rebounds, more than two dozen were gobbled up under the offensive boards.
However, only three of the numerous putback attempts dropped through the nets.
And, on the several occasions when they drew fouls, the Lady Tide struggled to cash in at the charity stripe.
Fortunately, Ridgway (0-13) lacked the height and firepower to stay with Curwensville after the first five minutes.
Jenni Thomas banked in a long three-pointer to open the scoring, but the Lady Elkers got off only three more shots in the quarter while turning the ball over 14 times on their way to 31 giveaways.
Still, the Lady Tide didn’t get on the board until Johnson canned two free throws with three minutes gone and didn’t take the lead until Strickland’s fast-break lay-up on their 10th shot made it 4-3 with 4:26 left in the period.
Finally, Curwensville got on a roll and, starting at the 3:06 mark, went on a 14-2 run with Strickland contributing three baskets and Johnson adding two.
In the second quarter, Seaburn tossed eight points as the Lady Tide padded their lead to 33-14 at intermission.
Johnson matched that total in the third period, which ended with Curwensville enjoying what proved to be the final 29-point spread.
McCracken was pleased to give his reserves more playing time and happy to see eight players produce points.
“It’s good they get that kind of exposure,” he said. “I was hoping I could throw five in and bring five out at the beginning of the season. For whatever reason, we haven’t gotten to that point.
“To be a good basketball team, we need to be able to use those girls all the time. Hopefully, this will push some of them to think that they can do a better job.”
Junior Dani Shirey scored eight points and freshman Jessica Kifer recorded 11 rebounds for Ridgway, a predominately-underclassmen team in a building mode after back-to-back 1-21 seasons.
The Lady Elkers hit the 20-point mark in only four previous games, including a 70-28 loss to the Lady Tide on Dec. 14.
Ridgway’s junior varsity triumphed, 28-20, in the prelim. Kayli Sedgwick’s seven points were high for Curwensville.
The Lady Tide will travel to Brockway Friday night. The Lady Rovers beat the Lady Tide 57-32 back on Dec. 11.
Allegheny Mountain League South Division standings – DuBois Central Catholic 5-2, Curwensville 3-2, Brockway 1-5, Ridgway 0-6.
RIDGWAY — 29
Tracey Ecklund 0 1-2 1, Jenni Thomas 1 0-0 3, Dani Shirey 4 0-0 8, Sierra Kos 3 0-0 6, Savannah Nelson 0 0-0 0, Jessica Kifer 2 1-2 5, Kristen Woodford 2 0-0 4, Jilly Mercer 0 0-0 0, Kirsten Hinton 1 0-1 2, Sarah Szczotka 0 0-0 0, Amanda Shilk 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 13 2-5 29.
CURWENSVILLE — 58
Heather Thorp 0 1-4 1, Becca Johnson 7 2-2 17, Ciara Strickland 6 1-2 13, Katrina Seaburn 3 4-10 10, Tiffany Carter 2 1-4 5, Tierra Shope 1 3-6 5, Abby Dugo 1 0-0 2, Kealy Wassil 2 1-2 5, Bailey Dale 0 0-0 0, Shauna Guy 0 0-0 0, Haley McGarry 0 0-0 0, Kayli Sedgwick 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 22 13-30 58.
Three-Point Field Goals – Ridgway 1 (Thomas); Curwensville 1 (Johnson).
Score by Quarters
Ridgway 5 9 4 11 – 29
Curwensville 18 15 14 11 – 58
Officials – Rich Gormont and Bill Zupich.
Lady Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/10 | MO VALLEY | 52 – 16 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/11 | BROCKWAY | 57 – 32 | 2 – 0 |
| 12/14 | @ Ridgway | 70 – 28 | 3 – 0 |
| 12/19 | HARMONY | 60 – 15 | 4 – 0 |
| 12/21 | @ Kane | ppd. | 4 – 0 |
| 12/27 | @ Clearfield | 52 – 60 | 4 – 1 |
| 01/02 | @ Kane | 31 – 59 | 4 – 2 |
| 01/04 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | 49 – 55 | 4 – 3 |
| 01/08 | @ Johnsonburg | 33 – 48 | 4 – 4 |
| 01/10 | @ Harmony | 66 – 28 | 5 – 4 |
| 01/16 | @ Elk County | 38 – 53 | 5 – 5 |
| 01/18 | WEST BRANCH | 30 – 51 | 5 – 6 |
| 01/21 | @ Glendale | 47 – 50 | 5 – 7 |
| 01/22 | RIDGWAY | 58 – 29 | 6 – 7 |
| 01/25 | @ Brockway |