BROCKWAY — Ciara Strickland poured in 29 points, including five three-pointers, and the Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team tightened up the defense in the second half to earn an important 47-40 victory over Brockway Friday night.
The Lady Tide needed their ninth win in 13 games to remain in the thick of the Allegheny Mountain League South Division chase as they leaped over the Lady Rovers into second place at 3-3 and remained one game behind front-running DuBois Central Catholic.
Despite getting 16 points from Strickland, Curwensville trailed 25-23 at halftime.
The Lady Tide held the Lady Rovers to six points in the third quarter to take a 34-31 lead, but they didn’t go ahead to stay until near the midway point of the final period.
Helping to turn the game around in the final 16 minutes were Christine Limbert in the low post and Heather Thorp at the foul line as well as on defense.
Limbert wound up with 14 rebounds and six blocks.
“We needed her to take charge under the boards, and she did,” Curwensville coach Rusty McCracken said. “She had big rebounds at the end of the game when we had to hold them to one shot. She just seemed to be around the ball every time it was loose.”
Thorp’s contributions at both ends of the court included five throws in seven attempts during the fourth quarter.
Strickland sank all four of her foul shots down the stretch as the Lady Tide finished 12-for-17 at the charity stripe after making only 21 of 46 in two games earlier in the week.
“We went man and had some steals in the fourth quarter,” McCracken said. “We tried to hold the ball to force them into going man. Then, we started driving and getting to the foul line.
“A big blow for Brockway was when (Juli) Esposito fouled out. They already were without two seniors who were injured.”
Esposito tallied 15 points for the Lady Rovers, who tumbled to 3-4 in the league and 7-8 overall.
Curwensville won’t have much time to savor the win that enhanced their bid for a berth in the AML Playoffs. The Lady Tide goes over the mountain again Monday to challenge DuBois Central Catholic.
Brockway won the low-scoring junior varsity game 18-8.
Allegheny Mountain League South Division — DuBois Central Catholic 5-3, Curwensville 3-3, Brockway 3-4, Ridgway 1-6.
CURWENSVILLE — 47
Heather Thorp 0 7-11 7, Hannah Dixon 2 1-2 5, Christine Limbert 2 0-0 4, Ciara Strickland 10 4-4 29, Shauna Guy 0 0-0 0, Kayli Sedgwick 1 0-0 2, Camryn Richards 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 15 12-17 47.
BROCKWAY — 40
Katlyn Cappetta 2 0-0 4, Ashley Moore 4 0-0 8, Leah Lindemuth 3 1-4 7, Juli Esposito 7 1-2 15, Kaitlyn Morelli 2 2-6 6, Leigha Pertz 0 0-0 0, Nicole Marchiori 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 4-12 40.
Three-Point Field Goals – Curwensville 5 (Strickland 5).
Score by Quarters
Curwensville 9 14 11 13 – 47
Brockway 9 16 6 9 – 40
Lady Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/08 | MO VALLEY | 61 – 45 | 1 – 0 |
| 12/09 | BROCKWAY | 67 – 46 | 2 – 0 |
| 12/12 | @ Ridgway | 42 – 36 | 3 – 0 |
| 12/19 | @ Kane | 46 – 51 | 3 – 1 |
| 12/29 | @ Clearfield | 66 – 40 | 4 – 1 |
| 01/02 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | 30 – 40 | 4 – 2 |
| 01/05 | WEST BRANCH | 58 – 37 | 5 – 2 |
| 01/06 | @ Johnsonburg | 60 – 47 | 6 – 2 |
| 01/08 | HARMONY | ppd. | 6 – 2 |
| 01/13 | @ Elk County Catholic | 25 – 52 | 6 – 3 |
| 01/15 | @ Mo Valley | 50 – 30 | 7 – 3 |
| 01/20 | RIDGWAY | 48 – 49 | 7 – 4 |
| 01/22 | HARMONY | 47 – 38 | 8 – 4 |
| 01/23 | @ Brockway | 47 – 40 | 9 – 4 |
| 01/26 | @ DuBois Central | ||
| 01/28 | GLENDALE | ||
| 01/30 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 02/03 | @ Sheffield | ||
| 02/04 | @ Glendale | ||
| 02/06 | KANE | ||
| 02/09 | @ Harmony | ||
| 02/11 | @ West Branch | ||
| 02/13 | CLEARFIELD |