CURWENSVILLE – Curwensville Area High School boys head basketball coach Matt Wassil wasn’t sure if it was colder outside or inside of Patton Hall on Friday night.
Actually, through three quarters against visiting Johnsonburg, it was about the same temperature. Frigid.
Wassil said afterwards, “We didn‘t shot the ball well from anywhere, outside, inside and at the line. And there is no answer for missed shots. You just have to keep taking shots when they present themselves. Lots of our guys had shots tonight and they just weren’t making them.”
Very true, as the Rams took a 14-2 margin into the second eight minutes thanks to a 10-0 run to end the first quarter.
The Tide’s only points in the first came on a Josh Terry bucket at the 5:30 mark.
Curwensville did put eight tallies on the scoreboard in the second quarter thanks to six from junior Christian Bakaysa, but the Rams put up 15 to go into the intermission with a big 29-10 edge.
Terry paced Curwensville with seven third quarter points, but once again Johnsonburg outdid its host by tossing in 10 to lead by 21 after three quarters.
Thanks to a no quit attitude; the Golden Tide did win the fourth quarter 15-10, and actually won the second half by three points. But the first half deficit was just too much for the Tide to overcome.
Curwensville was paced on offense by Terry, who had a game high 19 points with 15 coming in the second 16 minutes.
Johnsonburg, now 11-6 on the season and 4-3 in the Allegany Mountain League (AML) North Division had Austin Green with 15 points followed by Kacy Raubenstrauch adding 14.
From the foul line Curwensville was a dismal five for 18, while Johnsonburg was eight of 10.
Asked if three games in the past four nights was a factor, Wassil commented, “We have no issue with three games over the last four nights. Every team is playing three games a week at this time of the season. It’s no excuse, it’s just that time of year.”
The Tide fell below the 500 mark at 8-9 on the 2017-18 campaign and are now 2-6 in the AML South Division.
In the junior varsity game the young Rams beat the Golden Tide 35-24. Adam Miller and Adam Kunkle each had six points for Curwensville.
The Tide will travel to DuBois Central Catholic (DCC) for its next encounter, on Tuesday night, against the Cardinals with JV action beginning at 6 pm and the varsity to immediately follow.
The Golden Tide defeated DCC earlier this season, 58-49, at Curwensville.
JOHNSONBURG – 49
Kacy Raubenstrauch 5 3-4 14, Austin Green 6 0-0 15, Tyler Singer 1 1-2 4, Dilen Surra 2 0-0 4, Ben Freeburg 2 0-0 4, Nick Bliss 1 0-0 2, Logan Notorianni 0 0-0 0, Isaac Schloder 1 4-4 6
TOTALS – 18 8-10 49
CURWENSVILLE – 33
Josh Terry 7 3-10 19, Devon Barrett 0 0-0 0, Noah VonGunden 1 0-0 3, Christian Bakaysa 2 1-2 6, Avery Francisco 2 1-6 5, Nick Stewart 0 0-0 0, Dakota Bloom 0 0-0 0, Nate McKenrick 0 0-0 0
TOTALS – 12 5-18 33
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
JOHNSONBURG 14 15 10 10 49
CURWNSVILLE 2 8 8 15 33
THREE-POINT FG: JOHNSONBURG – 5 Green 3, Raubenstrauch, Singer
CURWENSVILLE – 4 Terry 2, VonGunden, Bakaysa
OFFICIALS: Dave Gardner, Bill Zupich, Craig Witherow
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/08 | @ Clearfield | 52 – 54 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/11 | WEST BRANCH | 57 – 54 ot | 1 – 1 |
| 12/15 | @ Mo Valley | 61 – 49 | 2 – 1 |
| 12/20 | GLENDALE | 82 – 47 | 3 – 1 |
| 12/28 | @ Freeport Tourney | ||
| 12/28 | vs. Freeport | 54 – 85 | 3 – 2 |
| 12/29 | vs. Mercyhurst Prep | 32 – 46 | 3 – 3 |
| 01/03 | @ Ridgway | 32 – 52 | 3 – 4 |
| 01/05 | BROCKWAY | ppd. | 3 – 4 |
| 01/09 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH | 58 – 49 | 4 – 4 |
| 01/11 | HARMONY | 90 – 74 | 5 – 4 |
| 01/12 | BROCKWAY | ppd. | 5 – 4 |
| 01/16 | @ Elk County Catholic | 46 – 78 | 5 – 5 |
| 01/19 | KANE | 58 – 45 | 6 – 5 |
| 01/22 | MO VALLEY | 60 – 53 | 7 – 5 |
| 01/23 | RIDGWAY | 44 – 57 | 7 – 6 |
| 01/26 | @ Brockway | 48 – 53 | 7 – 7 |
| 01/30 | BROCKWAY | 50 – 58 | 7 – 8 |
| 01/31 | @ Glendale | 60 – 49 | 8 – 8 |
| 02/02 | JOHNSONBURG | 33 – 49 | 8 – 9 |
| 02/06 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | ||
| 02/07 | @ West Branch | ||
| 02/09 | @ Sheffield | ||
| 02/12 | CLEARFIELD | ||
| 02/14 | @ Harmony |
