CURWENSVILLE — The Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team raced to a 13-0 lead against Harmony in the first six minutes and never looked back Monday night, breezing to a 59-21 Moshannon Valley League victory in Patton Hall.
Ciara Strickland pumped in 13 of her 23 points to propel the Lady Tide to a 23-4 cushion by the end of the first quarter, and the margin continually increased through the final buzzer.
Heather Thorp chipped in with a career-high 12 points as the Lady Tide improved to 4-0 in the MVL and 7-2 overall.
“We came out strong,” Curwensville coach Rusty McCracken said. “We were on fire, just ready to play. That was good to see.”
So were the easy transition points produced by the pressure defense throughout the game.
Strickland did swish a trio of high-arching three-pointers during the Lady Tide’s most prolific opening period of the season, but one of her other two field goals and as well as baskets by five of her teammates came right at the basket.
Tierra Shope, Abby Dugo, Thorp, Christine Limbert and Hannah Dixon also finished off fast breaks, with Shope and Shauna Guy picking up two assists apiece.
Curwensville registered seven steals, including two each by Strickland and Thorp, and forced two other Harmony turnovers in the quarter.
“That’s what we’ve been preaching,” McCracken said. “We need to put pressure on people and take advantage at the other end. We’ve really been seeing passes better lately and shooting a lot of lay-ups as a result.”
That was the recurring theme for both teams.
Turnovers, 29 in all, for Harmony (1-6, 0-4 MVL) and driving lay-ups on fast breaks or peeps when the shooters were open from short range but still made the extra pass for Curwensville.
Upwards of dozen-and-a-half assists were recorded by the Lady Tide.
“Almost everybody who scored also helped somebody else score, too,” McCracken said. “That just unselfish and team basketball.
“That’s where we have to be to continue to be successful.”
Thorp topped the Lady Tide in assists, according to McCracken.
“That what she really looks to do,” he said. “She likes to dish it out and really enjoys the fact that they make baskets off of her passing.
“And that’s my game. It’s more important to be the passer than it is to be the shooter.”
Lindsay Welteroth hit three treys and tallied 11 points for the Lady Owls, who never made more than two field goals in any quarter and wound up shooting only 15.2 percent for 46 attempts.
After making half of their 30 attempts for a 33-9 halftime lead, the Lady Tide cooled off a little and ended up cashing 44 percent of 72 tries.
Harmony’s Cheyenne Clark was the top rebounder with nine, but Curwensville posted a 34-29 edge with Shope and Kealy Wassil grabbing seven and six missed shots, respectively.
North Division front-runner Elk County Catholic (9-2) will invade Patton Hall Wednesday for an Allegheny Mountain League cross-over game.
Moshannon Valley League standings – Curwensville 4-0, West Branch 1-0, Moshannon Valley 2-2, Glendale 1-2, Harmony 0-4.
HARMONY — 21
Shannon Dyda 1 4-5 6, Breanne Stiver 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Maseto 1 0-2 2, Lindsay Welteroth 4 0-0 11, Roza Nalley 0 0-0 0, Kirstan Eger 0 0-0 0, Cheyenne Clark 1 0-1 2. TOTALS: 7 4-8 21.
CURWENSVILLE — 59
Heather Thorp 6 0-0 12, Tierra Shope 1 0-0 2, Ciara Strickland 10 0-2 23, Abby Dugo 3 0-0 6, Kealy Wassil 1 0-0 2, Hannah Dixon 3 0-0 6, Shauna Guy 3 0-0 6, Christine Limbert 1 0-0 2, Kayli Sedgwick 0 0-0 0, Katie Evans 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 28 0-2 59.
Three-Point Field Goals – Harmony 3 (Welteroth 3); Curwensville 3 (Strickland 3).
Score by Quarters
Harmony 4 5 8 4 – 21
Curwensville 23 10 14 12 – 59
Officials: Dave Gardner and Scott Way.
Lady Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/09 | @ Mo Valley | 36 – 35 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/10 | @ Brockway | 46 – 35 | 2 – 0 |
| 12/13 | RIDGWAY | 57 – 20 | 3 – 0 |
| 12/16 | @ Harmony | 60 – 23 | 4 – 0 |
| 12/20 | KANE | 38 – 49 | 4 – 1 |
| 12/27 | CLEARFIELD | 50 – 46 ot | 5 – 1 |
| 01/03 | @ DuBois Central | 34 – 55 | 5 – 2 |
| 01/06 | @ West Branch | ppd. | 5 – 2 |
| 01/07 | JOHNSONBURG | ppd. | 5 – 2 |
| 01/10 | MO VALLEY | 45 – 30 | 6 – 2 |
| 01/13 | HARMONY | 59 – 21 | 7 – 2 |
| 01/15 | ELK COUNTY | ||
| 01/17 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 01/20 | @ Glendale | ||
| 01/21 | @ Ridgway | ||
| 01/24 | BROCKWAY | ||
| 01/27 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | ||
| 01/29 | @ West Branch | ||
| 01/31 | @ Johnsonburg | ||
| 02/03 | GLENDALE | ||
| 02/04 | SHEFFIELD | ||
| 02/07 | @ Kane | ||
| 02/10 | @ Clearfield | ||
| 02/12 | WEST BRANCH |