CURWENSVILLE – After jumping out to a 19-10 first quarter margin Wednesday night against visiting Harmony, the Curwensville boys basketball squad looked poised to pick up its first win of the 2015-16 season.
The Owls defense and the Golden Tide offense, however, went in opposite directions in the second eight minutes that completely turned the contest around in Harmony’s favor. At the half the Owls were now in the lead, 26-19.
Curwensville put up a big zero in the second quarter thanks to poor shooting, turnovers and missed opportunities. Harmony gets credit for the zero with a swarming, relentless defense.
Curwensville head coach Shane Pentz spoke after the game, saying, “We lost because we put ourselves in this position because of not scoring in the second quarter. To say the least, we had a very hard time putting the ball in the basket.”
The Tide’s big first quarter was made possible by three three-pointers, one each by Jake Terry, Zach Marshall, and one at the buzzer by Nick Stewart. R.J. Olsen dropped in six points to help out the Tide offense in the first eight minutes.
Harmony then outscored the Tide 16-0 in the second quarter thanks to eight points from senior Cody Fritz.
Terry hit a trey with 4:20 left on the third quarter clock to pull the Tide to within two at 28-26.
Once again, though, the Owls pulled away to take a 35-30 edge into the final frame.
And what a fourth quarter it was as Harmony’s Dylan Kurtz hit a three pointer with 5:20 remaining in the game to give the Owls a commanding 43-30 margin. But not for long.
Another three by Terry and two free throws by Noah Strickland pulled the Golden Tide to within just two points at 43-41 and plenty of time (3:08) on the clock.
Kurtz and Fritz then each went one for two from the free throw line to give the Owls a bit of a cushion, 45-41, with 1:23 left.
The Tide’s Zach Marshall put the home Curwensville crowd into somewhat of a frenzy, draining a three pointer with 1:07 left, making it 45-44 Harmony.
And then, that was it. No more scoring. The comeback was over. Curwensville fell one point shy of tying the game and two points shy in an attempt to get its first win.
Curwensville hit on seven three-pointers with Terry hitting for four. Harmony made five treys with Logan Watson having three.
There was also a big disparity in the free throw department. The Owls went to the line for 31 shots, making 14, while Curwensville had six free throws and making three.
The Tide had three players in double figures with Terry leading the way with 13 followed by Olson hitting for 12 and Marshall having 10.
Harmony also had three players with double digits. Kurtz, Fritz and Logan Watson each scored 11.
Pentz then talked about what the Tide need to do to break its slump, “The guys need to start making plays. We have to work to get better, and a lot of that needs to be on the defensive end as well. We have to come out ready to play.”
Curwensville won the junior varsity game, defeating the Owls 41-28.
Harmony, 3-3, is at home Monday in another Moshannon Valley league game against Moshannon Valley.
The Tide, 0-5, play at Kane on Friday night.
HARMONY – 45
Dylan Kurtz 2 5-8 11, Austin Young 2 2-2 6, Logan Watson 4 0-2 11, Brian Baker 2 0-4 4, Cody Fritz 3 5-9 11, Mike Koblosky 0 2-6 2, TOTALS – 13 14-31 45
CURWENSVILLE – 44
Curtis Linsenbigler 0 0-0 0, Jake Terry 4 1-2 13, Zach Marshall 4 0-0 10, Noah Strickland 2 2-2 6, R. J. Olsen 6 0-2 12, Nick Stewart 1 0-0 3, Josh Terry 0 0-0 0, Jared Bakaysa 0 0-0 0, Ian Barrett 0 0-0 0, Avery Francisco 0 0-0 0, Devan Barrett 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 17 3-6 44
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
HARMONY 10 16 9 10 45
CURWENSVILLE 19 0 11 14 44
THREE-POINTERS: Jake Terry 4, Marshall 2, Stewart; Kurtz 2, Watson 3,
OFFICIALS: Bill Overly, Marvin Martell