ALLPORT – The West Branch Lady Warriors basketball team finished the Moshannon Valley League season with a perfect 8-0 record as it defeated visiting Curwensville Wednesday night, 64-31.
Lady Warrior senior Melesha Ahlberg made sure the Lady Tide would not spoil the night, as the 5’9” guard put up a game high, and one point less than the Curwensville team total, 30 points, to lead both squads.
Although the West Branch girls won with ease, the Lady Tide actually led after the first quarter, 10-7.
Then sophomore guard Ciara Strickland of Curwensville picked up her third personal foul of the game in the second eight minutes and things just rolled down hill from there for the Tide.
Curwensville head coach Rusty McCracken after the game said, “We were playing pretty tough basketball into the second quarter and then Ciara picked up her third foul. Once she came out of the game it completely changed the dynamics.”
And boy did it ever, as the Warriors took control of the contest with a 21-7 run in the second stanza to take a 28-17 lead into the break.
Curwensville would play fairly even with their hosts in the third frame, only being outscored 12-10 to trail after three, 40-27.
West Branch decided to step up its game in the final eight minutes with a huge 24-4 advantage and won going away.
Janene Couteret assisted Ahlberg in the Lady Warrior offense with 12 points.
For Curwensville it was a big night for Katrina Seaburn, as the senior recorded another double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds. Strickland helped out by tossing in 11 tallies.
McCracken added, “We started out playing, as I said earlier, tough basketball, with a very solid effort. Then their press rattled us and we did things that didn’t benefit us. I was pleased though to see us dominate on the boards early on, but we just didn’t turn them into points on the offensive end of the floor.”
The final 2012-13 Moshannon Valley League girls standings are as follows: West Branch 8-0, Curwensville 5-3, Glendale 5-3, Moshannon Valley 2-6 and Harmony 0-8.
In junior varsity action, the Lady Warriors topped the Lady Tide 64-25 in the first game of the evening. Shauna Guy had 12 points for Curwensville in the loss.
There is no rest for Curwensville, however, as the Lady Tide host rival Clearfield Thursday night with the junior varsity game tipping off at 6 pm and the varsity to immediately follow.
Clearfield, 6-15, defeated the Lady Tide, 8-12, the first time around, over the Christmas break at Curwensville, 60-52.
Listen to the Clearfield at Curwensville girls basketball game Thursday night on WOKW-FM, 102.9, with the pre-game starting at 7:15 pm.
CURWENSVILLE — 31
Heather Thorp 1 0-1 2, Tierra Shope 0 0-3 0, Rebecca Johnson 2 1-1 5, Ciara Strickland 3 4-4 11, Katrina Seaburn 6 1-2 13, Tiffany Carter 0 0-2 0, Bailey Dale 0 0-0 0, Abby Dugo 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 12 6-13 31.
WEST BRANCH — 64
Melesha Ahlberg 12 2-9 30, Missy Croyle 1 4-4 6, Janene Couteret 6 0-1 12, Christie Sabol 0 1-2 1, Taylor Kolesar 3 0-0 7, Nichole Miller 1 0-0 2, Madison McCracken 1 1-2 3, Brianne Nye 1 0-0 3, TOTALS – 25 8-18 64.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CURWENSVILLE 10 7 10 4 31
WEST BRANCH 7 21 12 24 64
THREE-POINTERS: CURWENSVILLE – 1 Strickland WEST BRANCH – 6 Ahlberg 4, Nye, Kolesar
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 | 50 – 25 | 9 – 11 |
| 02/13 | @ West Branch | 31 – 64 | 9 – 12 |
| 02/14 | CLEARFIELD | ||
| 02/15 | AML Playoffs | ||
| vs. Elk County Catholic | |||
| 02/19 | District 9 Playoffs | ||
| vs. TBD |