CURWENSVILLE – The West Branch Area High School boys basketball team improved to 11-1 Friday night, beating Curwensville, 80-48 on the Golden Tide’s home floor in Moshannon Valley League play.
The Warrior victory also completed the sweep of the two-game season series between the two squads as West Branch knocked off the Tide in December, 83-41.
However, this game didn’t start out like it would be that easy for the Warriors as the Tide played a tight defense and stayed close to West Branch until mid-way through the second quarter.
Golden Tide head coach Shane Pentz spoke afterwards, saying, “This game was much different this time around than the first game at West Branch. We started out staying with them but in the third quarter we didn’t react well to their pressure. As a team we just didn’t click in the third.”
Curwensville opened up the game clinging tight to the Warriors and trailing 5-4 with 5:05 left in the opening eight minutes.
Tide senior Quamone Newkirk hit a bucket with 33 seconds left in the first to keep it close with West Branch leading by just two points, 12-10.
The Warriors added three free throws at the end to take a 15-10 edge into the second quarter.
Austin Krise scored nine points of his game high 27 in the first.
Curwensville was again outscored by the Warriors in the second quarter, 19-10, to take a 34-20 margin in to the intermission.
Jake Terry brought Curwensville to within four tallies at 19-15 with a basket at the 4:50 mark of the second.
Then West Branch got down to business for the remainder of the first half and then the rest of the contest.
With a 15-5 run at the end of the first 16 minutes, the Warriors were able to put some space between them and their pesky hosts.
The run continued into the third period for West Branch, which essentially sealed the deal.
Scoring the last three points of the second quarter and the first 20 of the third did the trick for Danny Clark’s Warriors.
The 23-0 run had West Branch up 54-20 with 2:12 to go in the third frame before Golden Tide senior Quamone Newkirk put two on the board.
But the damage was done. And after three quarters it was 56-27 Warriors.
The two squads combined for 45 fourth quarter points, with West Branch also winning that eight minute stretch, 24-21.
Newkirk, coming off of the bench, had a great night, hitting four three-pointers, three in the final quarter, to pace the Tide offense with 18 points.
Jake Terry added 11 for Curwensville.
Helping Krise and the West Branch attack was Kody Trude with 20 points and Justin Rothrock chipping in 10.
Pentz closed his comments talking about his team’s effort, saying, “The kids come to practice with a great attitude and really go at it hard. They are upbeat and come ready to play.”
West Branch also picked up a win in the junior varsity contest by a score of 57-47 over the Golden Tide.
The Golden Tide, with an 0-11 record, play Saturday at Elk County Catholic with the JV game tipping off at 6 pm and the varsity to immediately follow.
Curwensville is also winless in the Moshannon Valley League (MVL) at 0-5.
The Warriors remain perfect in the MVL with a 4-0 mark.
Listen to the Curwensville at Elk County Catholic game on WOKW-FM, 102.9, with the pre-game show beginning at approximately 7:15 pm.
WEST BRANCH – 80
Tyler McDonald 0 0-0 0, Austin Krise 11 5-6 27, Brandon Zwick 2 1-2 6, Kody Trude 7 4-5 20, Trenton Ferguson 3 2-2 8, Justin Rothrock 4 0-2 10, Larry Cowder 2 0-0 4, Noah Williams 2 1-2 5, Hunter Emigh 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 31 13-19 80
CURWENSVILLE – 48
Nick Stewart 1 0-2 3, Jake Terry 4 1-2 11, Ian Barrett 0 0-0 0, Noah Strickland 2 0-0 4, R. J. Olsen 1 0-0 2, Josh Terry 0 0-1 0, Quamone Newkirk 6 2-4 18, Curtis Linsenbigler 0 0-0 0, Alec Opaliski 0 0-0 0, Jared Bakaysa 0 0-0 0, Christian Bakaysa 1 0-0 2, Avery Francicso 0 2-2 2, Nate McKenrick 0 2-2 2, Devan Barrett 2 0-0 4, TOTALS – 17 7-13 48
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
WEST BRANCH 15 19 22 24 80
CURWENSVILLE 10 10 7 21 48
THREE-POINTERS: WEST BRANCH – 5 Trude 2, Rothrock 2, Zwick CURWENSVILLE – 7 Newkirk 4, Jake Terry 2, Stewart
OFFICIALS: Marv Martell, Lee Martell
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/07 @ Clearfield 35 – 76 0 – 1
12/08 BROCKWAY 36 – 53 0 – 2
12/11 @ Ridgway 25 – 70 0 – 3
12/15 MO VALLEY 46 – 79 0 – 4
12/16 HARMONY 44 – 45 0 – 5
12/18 @ Kane 45 – 67 0 – 6
12/21 @ West Branch 41 – 83 0 – 7
01/04 DUBOIS CENTRAL 48 – 62 0 – 8
01/06 @ Johnsonburg 49 – 64 0 – 9
01/08 @ Mo Valley ppd. 0 – 9
01/12 @ Elk County ppd. 0 – 9
01/13 @ Mo Valley 46 – 62 0 – 10
01/15 WEST BRANCH 48 – 80 0 – 11
01/16 @ Elk County
01/18 GLENDALE
01/19 RIDGWAY
01/22 @ Brockway
01/25 @ DuBois Central
01/27 @ Harmony
01/29 JOHNSONBURG
02/01 @ Glendale
02/02 @ Sheffield
02/05 KANE
02/08 CLEARFIELD