CURWENSVILLE — A spirited comeback from a huge deficit by the Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team fell short as Ridgway held on in the final three minutes for a 53-45 Allegheny Mountain League South Division win at Patton Hall Wednesday night.
Madison Weber registered a double-double with 20 points and 12 rebounds and Hannah Dixon scored 19 points to account for the bulk of the Lady Tide offense, while Christine Limbert checked in with 12 rebounds, too.
The efforts by Dixon and Limbert belied the fact that both were battling sickness as well as the tough Lady Elker zone defense that keyed on the Lady Tide trio.
“They played some great defense,” Curwensville coach Jocelyn Bash acknowledged. “But our field goal and free throw percentages were low.”
The Lady Tide wound up making just under 27 percent of their shots from the floor and were less than that when the Lady Elkers were cruising along at 39-21 with 3:46 left in the third quarter because of their ‘D’ plus lights out foul shooting, 9-for-10, and 15 points from Ellen Fullem.
Then, Dixon drilled a three-pointer from the left side to trigger a 13-3 run that extended into the final period.
After Casey Woodford’s bonus shot from outside temporarily restored Ridgway’s double-digit lead, 45-34, the Lady Tide had the home fans roaring as the visitors tried to milk the clock when Dixon’s third three-pointer and fast-break layup around a Weber putback trimmed the deficit to 45-41 with 3:16 remaining.
However, Curwensville got no closer than four on two other occasions, 47-43 with 1:18 left and 49-45 on another Weber putback just inside a half-minute.
“Every time we would battle back, the other team would come back,” Bash said. “They were tough. And they could make their foul shots.”
Five misses and two turnovers in the last minute prevented the Lady Tide from creating a wild finish as they fell to 4-9 with their sixth AML-South loss.
“It just wasn’t meant to be, but I am very proud of how they battled back,” Bash said. “They showed a lot of heart. We just made too many mistakes.”
Fullem, whose height presented a problem for Limbert inside, paced Ridgway (5-10) with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Woodford added 11 points.
Next up for the Lady Tide is a trip to Brockway Friday for their third AML-South game of the week.
Ridgway’s jayvees also were victorious, 32-7.
Allegheny Mountain League South Division standings – DuBois Central Catholic 6-1, Ridgway 3-3, Brockway 1-5, Curwensville 0-6.
RIDGWAY — 53
Casey Woodford 3 4-4 11, Emily Fullem 8 6-8 22, Karley LaBenne 3 0-1 6, Hannah Park 2 0-0 6, Josie Benninger 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Kasmierski 1 4-4 6, Christine Fullem 1 0-0 2, Lindsey Steis 0 0-0 0, Sophie McManus 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18 14-16 53.
CURWENSVILLE — 45
Hannah Dixon 7 2-4 19, Christine Limbert 1 2-7 4, Nikki Wormuth 0 0-0 0, Madison Weber 8 3-4 20, Maddie McCracken 0 0-0 0, Tarah Jacobson 1 0-0 2, Madison Olson 0 00 0, Mikayla Warren 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 17 6-14 45.
Three-Point Field Goals – Ridgway 3 (Woodford 1, Park 2); Curwensville 5 (Dixon 3, Weber 2).
Score by Quarters
Ridgway 13 15 14 11 – 53
Curwensville 5 14 13 13 – 45
Officials – Chip Mason and Bill Overly.
Lady Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/09 | @ Glendale | 27 – 37 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/12 | @ Mo Valley | 52 – 46 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/14 | WEST BRANCH | 51 – 48 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/19 | KANE | 26 – 57 | 2 – 2 |
| 12/28 | @ Clearfield | 51 – 52 | 2 – 3 |
| 01/04 | @ Ridgway | 31- 48 | 2 – 4 |
| 01/06 | BROCKWAY | 42 – 44 | 2 – 5 |
| 01/09 | MO VALLEY | 58 – 56 | 3 – 5 |
| 01/10 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | ppd. | 3 – 5 |
| 01/11 | @ West Branch | ppd. | 3 – 5 |
| 01/14 | HARMONY | 51 – 36 | 4 – 5 |
| 01/16 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | 41 – 56 | 4 – 6 |
| 01/17 | @ Elk County Catholic | 47 – 63 | 4 – 7 |
| 01/20 | KANE | 37 – 57 | 4 – 8 |
| 01/25 | RIDGWAY | 45 – 53 | 4 – 9 |
| 01/27 | @ Brockway | ||
| 01/31 | @ Harmony | ||
| 02/01 | GLENDALE | ||
| 02/03 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 02/07 | @ DuBois Central | ||
| 02/08 | CLEARFIELD | ||
| 02/10 | SHEFFIELD | ||
| 02/15 | @ West Branch |