KANE – You would think after expending enormous amounts of energy in a win over rival Clearfield on Monday night that the Curwensville boys basketball team would just about be running on empty.
Think again.
The Golden Tide took the long journey to Kane on Tuesday night for an Allegany Mountain League contest with the Wolves, who beat the Tide the first time around, in Curwensville, in relatively easy fashion, 63-45.
Ah! Sweet revenge!
Curwensville even went to overtime to defeat the Wolves, 66-61, and for the first time this season, won back-to-back games.
Trailing by seven at the break, 32-25, the Golden Tide outscored Kane by the same total in the second 16 minutes to send the game into the extra period.
The Tide scored with one minute left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 55-55.
Both teams had a chance to win in regulation, as Curwensville missed two free throws with just nine seconds remaining and Kane missing a last second field goal attempt.
The Tide won the overtime event by scoring 11 points and holding its hosts to just six.
Both squads spent a lot of time at the free throw line, combining for a total of 50 shots.
Curwensville was only 9 of 22 from the charity line while Kane hit on 22 of 28.
Brett Gardner of the Tide had a monster game with 25 points, 14 in the third quarter when starting guard Tanner Elensky went down with only one minute gone due to an eye injury and was unable to return.
The effort by Gardner was not lost on Tide head coach Shane Pentz, who said, “Brett Gardner literally just put us on his back in the third quarter after Tanner went down and basically carried us the rest of the way. And Harrison Bloom and Alex Olson each hit three-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the game close.”
Austin Jacobson assisted Gardner with 12 tallies of his own while sophomore Bloom came off of the bench to score nine, including two treys.
The Wolves, who played only six players, were paced on offense by Jeffrey Kocjancic with 25 and Kevin Cleer with 12.
When the two teams played in Curwensville earlier this season the Wolves had all five starters in double figures.
Pentz then summed up the team effort aspect of the game, commenting, “You could tell at the start of the game we had heavy legs. But in the second half we played with much greater effort and energy and found a way to come out on top.”
The junior varsity game was also won by the Tide, 38-26, as Harrison Bloom dumped in 12 points in the win over the young Wolves.
The Tide, now 6-15, play their final game of the season on Wednesday night at home against West Branch. The JV game tips-off at 6pm with the varsity to follow fifteen minutes later.
The Warriors beat the Golden Tide earlier this season, 68-56, on the West Branch hardwood.
CURWENSVILLE — 66
Tanner Elensky 2 1-2 5, Brett Gardner 9 3-5 25, Alex Olson 3 0-0 7, Austin Jacobson 5 2-5 12, Kyle Johns 0 0-2 0, Trey Rauckhorst 4 0-4 8, Harrison Bloom 2 3-4 9, Marcus Stephenson 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 25 9-22 66.
KANE — 61
Sean Rolick 1 4-5 6, Andrew Pierson 3 0-2 9, Kevin Cleer 5 0-0 12, Jeffrey Kocjancic 6 11-13 25, Dan Park 1 2-2 4, A. J. Stefani 1 3-6 5, TOTALS – 17 20-28 61.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CURWENSVILLE 13 12 20 19 11 66
KANE 15 17 10 13 6 61
THREE-POINTERS: CURWENSVILLE – 7 Gardner 4, Bloom 2, Olson KANE – 7 Pierson 3, Cleer 2, Kocjancic 2
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/07 | @ Clearfield | ppd. | 0 – 0 |
| 12/10 | @ Clearfield | 37 – 42 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/11 | @ Brockway | 32 – 45 | 0 – 2 |
| 12/14 | RIDGWAY | 37 – 59 | 0 – 3 |
| 12/17 | @ West Branch | 56 – 68 | 0 – 4 |
| 12/18 | HARMONY | 60 – 62 | 0 – 5 |
| 12/21 | KANE | ppd. | 0 – 5 |
| 01/02 | GLENDALE | 53 – 57 | 0 – 6 |
| 01/04 | @ DuBois Central | 29 – 35 | 0 – 7 |
| 01/08 | JOHNSONBURG | 32 – 77 | 0 – 8 |
| 01/09 | @ Glendale | 40 – 52 | 0 – 9 |
| 01/15 | ELK COUNTY | 40 – 57 | 0 – 10 |
| 01/16 | @ Mo Valley | 74 – 49 | 1 – 10 |
| 01/22 | @ Ridgway | 31 – 70 | 1 – 11 |
| 01/23 | KANE | 45 – 63 | 1 – 12 |
| 01/25 | BROCKWAY | ppd. | 1 – 12 |
| 01/28 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | ppd. | 1 – 12 |
| 01/30 | @ Harmony | 55 – 37 | 2 – 12 |
| 02/01 | @ Brookville | 46 – 50 | 2 – 13 |
| 02/02 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | 37 – 33 | 3 – 13 |
| 02/05 | SHEFFIELD | 55 – 60 | 3 – 14 |
| 02/06 | MO VALLEY | 65 – 54 | 4 – 14 |
| 02/08 | @ Kane | ppd. | 4 – 14 |
| 02/09 | BROCKWAY | 39 – 63 | 4 – 15 |
| 02/11 | CLEARFIELD | 52 – 48 | 5 – 15 |
| 02/ 12 | @ Kane | 66 – 61 ot | 6 – 15 |
| 02/13 | WEST BRANCH |