CURWENSVILLE — Kane’s Lady Wolves got a much stiffer test than they most likely expected from the Curwensville Lady Tide in Patton Hall Saturday afternoon, but the top-ranked Class AA team in the D9Sports.com District 9 Rankings found a way to pull out a 40-35 victory in the Allegheny Mountain League cross-over make-up.
While it might have been a case of a little overconfidence by the Lady Wolves since they beat the Lady Tide 59-31 on January 3, Curwensville coach Rusty McCracken preferred to gives his girls credit for a tremendous effort on Senior Day.
“It was one of those games you hate to lose, but I’m just proud as can be about the way they played,” he said. “That could be the top double-A team in District 9 and the girls played them tough.
“The last few games have been must-wins, and we’ve been kind of tense. This was a game just to have some fun. They came out more relaxed.
“They hit the baskets early. Everything was running on all cylinders.”
Early on, Curwensville (8-11) turned defensive rebounds into fast breaks that Ciara Strickland punctuated with two lay-ups on passes from Katrina Seaburn and Becca Johnson and a floating banker on another helper from Seaburn.
“We saw each other and passed the ball well when we had the fast breaks,” McCracken said.
Johnson interjected a three-pointer from the left corner before Strickland capped the run for a 9-2 start.
The Lady Tide found Johnson open two more times in their set offense, and she rewarded Strickland and Heather Thorp with assists to make it 13-8 after one period.
The second quarter was scoreless for almost three minutes until Johnson banked in a three-pointer, and the Lady Tide stretched its lead to 20-11 with Strickland scoring on another fast-break and Tiffany Carter spotting Seaburn free in the paint.
Up 20-13 at the break, the hosts lived through a recurring nightmare in the third quarter, when Kane (18-4) reeled off the first 10 points.
“Most were on foul shots after offensive rebounds,” McCracken pointed out.
The Lady Wolves grabbed seven offensive rebounds en route to forging a 29-26 edge to carry into the final period.
“The third quarter has kind of haunted us over the years,” McCracken said. “We just have a hard time coming back out of the locker room.”
Johnson woke up the Lady Tide by knocking down a three-pointer with 3:12 left for a 23-23 tie.
Seaburn hit three of four free throws to give Curwensville its last lead, 26-25, before Kaila Jamerson’s second-chance peep put Kane ahead to stay.
The Lady Tide fell behind by eight points twice, 34-28 and 38-30, but refused to quit.
Johnson’s one-hander from the left side and Carter’s lone field goal from the foul line made it 38-34 with 3:07 remaining.
Curwensville had several opportunities to make it a one-possession game but missed its last five shots and was guilty of two giveaways before Dawn Saquin’s two charity tosses iced it for Kane with 12 seconds to go.
Johnson had a game-high 17 points for the Lady Tide.
“She’s kept us in games all year,” McCracken said of his senior guard who was recognized before the game along with classmates Seaburn, Carter and Bailey Dale.
Jamerson, who became Kane’s all-time leading scorer last month and now has 1,154 points, topped a balanced offense with 11 points.
Wriglesworth was pleased with the Lady Tide’s man defense, for the Lady Wolves have been held under 40 points only three times, as well as the rebounding. Johnson and Carter pulled down nine and eight missed shots, respectively, as Curwensville held its own under the boards.
Curwensville might bump into Kane in the eight-team District 9 Class AA Playoffs, according to McCracken.
“That’s probably the top seed, and we may get them in the first round,” he said.
First, the Lady Tide has at least four games to focus on, wrapping up its Moshannon Valley League schedule with road games against Moshannon Valley Monday and West Branch Wednesday, hosting Clearfield in a non-leaguer Thursday and then taking on North Division champ Elk County Catholic in the first round of the AML Playoffs Friday.
Abby Dugo scored eight points for the Curwensville jayvees in a 43-23 loss.
KANE — 40
Kaila Jamerson 5 1-3 11, Audrey Perry 3 1-2 7, Nerissa Rich 3 3-8 9, Dawn Saquin 2 2-3 6, Taylor Morgan 0 2-3 2, Shannon Kocjancic 0 0-0 0, Taylor Bucheit 1 3-4 5, Jackie Bedford 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS: 14 12-23 40.
CURWENSVILLE — 35
Heather Thorp 0 0-0 0, Becca Johnson 7 0-0 17, Ciara Strickland 4 1-2 9, Katrina Seaburn 2 3-4 7, Tiffany Carter 1 0-0 2, Bailey Dale 0 0-0 0, Tierra Shope 0 0-0 0, Abby Dugo 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 14 4-6 35..
Three-Point Field Goals – Curwensville 3 (Johnson 3).
Score by Quarters
Kane                    8  5 16 11 – 40
Curwensville  13 7  6 11 – 35
Referees – Chris Sherkel 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 | ppd. | 6 – 7 |
| 01/28 | @ DuBois Central | ppd. | 6 – 7 |
| 02/01 | JOHNSONBURG | 35 – 74 | 6 – 8 |
| 02/02 | @ DuBois Central | 34 – 37 | 6 – 9 |
| 02/04 | GLENDALE | 46 – 39 | 7 – 9 |
| 02/05 | @ Sheffield | 56 – 38 | 8 – 9 |
| 02/07 | @ Brockway | 31 – 57 | 8 – 10 |
| 02/08 | KANE | ppd. | 8 – 10 |
| 02/09 | KANE | 35 – 40 | 8 – 11 |
| 02/11 | @ Mo Valley | Â | Â |
| 02/13 | @ West Branch | Â | Â |
| 02/14 | CLEARFIELD | Â | Â |
| 02/15 | AML Playoffs | Â | Â |
| Â | vs. Elk County Catholic | Â | Â |
