MORRISDALE — Earlier in the year, when the basketball season began, the Golden Tide of Curwensville welcomed the West Branch Warriors into Patton Hall for what has always been a great game between two strong programs. On that night, the visiting team was shining the brightest as West Branch held on for a 20-point victory.
Fast forward a month, the two were back on the court against one another, this time on the Warriors’ home court.
The contest was not as fast paced, and was a strong battle among the two teams for a majority of the game. However, when it counted the most, the Warriors stepped up, while the Tide had missed opportunities. At the final buzzer, West Branch improved on their season with a 59-42 triumph.
Despite the tough loss, coach Shane Pentz was impressed with the difference in his team from the first game between the two schools. Specifically, he was happy with his team’s play on the boards.
“The earlier game in December, I think they were minus-22 in rebounding margin. They just killed us on the boards. Tonight, we turned it into a plus-4 for us,” he said. “That’s a 25 or 26 rebound swing, and that’s a big difference.”
The play on the boards was led by Trey Rauckhorst who pulled down 11 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive side of the ball. Those led to some key put-back baskets. However, Pentz was frustrated because despite the many opportunities, his team had trouble getting the buckets that were close to the basket, a problem his team has been plagued by all season.
“We just couldn’t make the two-footer. It wasn’t just one guy or two guys, I think we all had a hand in missing those give-me baskets. That’s basketball,” he said.
The Tide were led by Alex Hill and RJ Olson in scoring with nine points each.
After only being down six at the half, Curwensville began to pick away a little bit in the second half, specifically in the fourth quarter. The Tide were able to cut the lead down to five points, mainly by controlling the ball and working time off of the clock. West Branch has been known to score a lot of points this season, so Pentz thought it was crucial to control the ball and keep the scoring low.
We also controlled the tempo more. Holding this team to under 60 points means we played pretty good defense,” he said afterward. “They can score, so the fact we held them to 59 is helpful. When they played us at home, I think they had 41 midway through the second quarter.”
Unfortunately, late fouls began costing Curwensville, and then ball control began becoming an issue. The Warrior player that got hot from the fast break offense off the Tide turnovers was Austin Krise, who scored 10 of his 17 points in the final frame. He was only topped by teammate Kody Trude, who had a game-high 18 points on the night plus five boards. Trenton Ferguson led all players on the night with 10 rebounds.
The Warriors were also able to come out victorious in the jayvee game to start the night in a 44-37 final.
Even in the loss, Pentz was proud of his team, and was quick to point out that the home team was the better group on this night, and that they’ve been strong since the opening tip of the year.
“They are a very good team. Credit truly goes to West Branch, they work hard all year and their record shows it,” he said.
Curwensville (4-9) has little time to recover as they are back on the court Tuesday as they travel to Ridgway.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Curwensville 11 13 10 8 – 42
West Branch 15 15 13 16 – 59
Curwensville 42
Linsenbigler 0 0-0 0, Hill 4 0-0 9, S. Cannon 0 0-0 0, Miller 1 1-4 3, Rauckhorst 4 0-0 8, Marshal 2 0-0 6, Opaliski 0 0-0 0, Strickland 0 0-0 0, F. Cannon 0 0-0 0, Olson 4 1-1 9, Davis 0 0-0 0, Bloom 3 0-0 7. TOTALS 18 2-5 42
West Branch 59
McDonald 0 0-0 0, S. Krise 3 2-2 8, Jones 0 0-0 0, A. Krise 6 5-6 17, Foster 0 0-0 0, Rothrock 1 0-0 3, Watro 0 0-0 0, Ebock 0 0-0 0, Lanager 0 0-0 0, Martin 2 2-3 6, Zwick 1 0-0 3, Williams 0 0-0 0, Trude 6 2-2 18, Emigh 0 0-0 0, Ferguson 2 0-4 4. TOTALS 21 11-17 59
GAME STATISTICS
Curwensville/West Branch
Field Goals Made-Attempted: 18-52/21-50
Rebounds: 29/25
Team Fouls: 16/9
Turnovers: 21/13
Three-Point Shots: Hill, Marshall (2), Bloom/Rothrock, Zwick, Trude (4)
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/05 | @ Mo Valley | 41 – 51 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/08 | @ Brockway | 53 – 51 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/10 | HARMONY | 52 – 43 | 2 – 1 |
| 12/12 | RIDGWAY | 33 – 38 | 2 – 2 |
| 12/15 | CLEARFIELD | 40 – 71 | 2 – 3 |
| 12/16 | WEST BRANCH | 61 – 81 | 2 – 4 |
| 12/19 | KANE | 55-57 ot | 2 – 5 |
| 01/02 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | 38 – 63 | 2 – 6 |
| 01/06 | JOHNSONBURG | 38 – 40 | 2 – 7 |
| 01/09 | MO VALLEY | ppd. | 2 – 7 |
| 01/14 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | 36 – 63 | 2 – 8 |
| 01/16 | GLENDALE | 53 – 30 | 3 – 8 |
| 01/17 | MO VALLEY | 42 – 34 | 4 – 8 |
| 01/19 | @ West Branch | 42 – 59 | 4 – 9 |
| 01/20 | @ Ridgway | ||
| 01/23 | BROCKWAY | ||
| 01/26 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH | ||
| 01/28 | @ Harmony | ||
| 01/30 | @ Johnsonburg | ||
| 02/02 | @ Glendale | ||
| 02/03 | SHEFFIELD | ||
| 02/06 | @ Kane | ||
| 02/09 | @ Clearfield |