CURWENSVILLE — DuBois Central Catholic staged a furious rally early in the fourth quarter to wipe out an 11-point deficit and went on to hand the Curwensville Area High School girls basketball team a frustrating 37-35 loss in Patton Hall Tuesday night.
After scoring only 16 points through three periods, the Lady Cardinals carried the final eight minutes 21-12 to clinch at least a tie for first place in the Allegheny Mountain League South Division at 6-4.
With the Lady Tide up 23-16, Tarah Jacobson turned a steal into a layup and Madi Weber went all the way with a defensive rebound for another bucket in the first 30 seconds of the final quarter.
Shayleigh Gulvas shifted the momentum to DCC (9-10) with a bucket that ignited a 14-3 run when the visitors ratcheted up the defensive pressure.
The rest was all Ashley Wruble as the junior guard, in a span of just over two minutes, converted two steals into a layup and, after being fouled, two free throws before hitting three one-handers from outside, one just inside the three-point line and then back-to-back shots from behind the arc.
Her spree, after not having a point in the first 25 minutes, created the second tie of the game with 5:13 remaining to set up a tension-filled finish.
“Those three-point shots hurt us bad,” Lady Tide coach Bob Desmett said. “I don’t know why we left her so open.”
Weber regained the lead for Curwensville (3-16) by making two foul shots with 3:40 left, but Gulvas answered nearly a minute later and followed up with a pair of free throws at the 2:24 mark that put the Lady Cardinals ahead for the first time since the second minute when they had a 2-1 edge.
Once again, Weber came through for the Lady Tide, swishing a three-pointer from the left wing to put the hosts ahead 35-34 with 1:36 on the clock.
Seconds later, Wruble made a difficult pass to a wide-open Jordy Kosko under the right side of the hoop, and she tossed in the winning basket before the Lady Tide defenders could recover.
Following the last two of Curwensville’s 30 turnovers, Wruble added the final point from the foul line with 20.5 seconds remaining.
Weber ran into heavy traffic attempting a shot with time winding down and Jacobson wound up with the ball. She was fouled at the buzzer but was unable to sink the first of two possible free throws.
“We’ve been in only one tight game all year, and we need to learn to play in those situations,” Desmett said. “We needed to remain calm. If we had, that takes better care of the ball.”
Curwensville was guilty of nine turnovers in the fourth quarter, including two walking calls and a three-second lane violation.
“They‘re a good team, and when it came in the clutch, they knew what they were doing. And we kind of fell apart a little bit. It was a tough loss.”
Before the Lady Cardinals mounted their comeback, the Lady Tide kept them at bay with solid rebounding on the heels of their best all-around game of the season in a win at Harmony the previous night.
“Our kids played really well until the fourth quarter,” Desmett said.
DCC made only eight of 52 shots through three quarters, and the Lady Tide claimed 29 of the misses, with Weber grabbing 13 on her way to another double-double.
The Lady Tide junior wound up with 17 total rebounds and a game-high 20 points.
However, Sabrina Spencer was her only teammate with more than one basket, the transfer from DCC netting eight points.
“We need other kids to score,” Desmett said. “When you have four of five of them scoring, that really makes a difference.”
Gulvas and Wruble paced the Lady Cardinals with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
The Lady Tide will welcome Sheffield to Patton Hall Friday for another AML encounter.
The junior varsity game went into double overtime before DuBois Central Catholic prevailed, 27-24. Jordan Witherite had 13 points for Curwensville.
Allegheny Mountain League South Division — DuBois Central Catholic 6-4, Brockway 4-4, Ridgway 4-4, Curwensville 0-8.
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC — 37
Shayleigh Gulvas 6 2-3 14, Ashley Wruble 4 3-4 13, Alyssa Bittner 1 0-0 2, Maia Cogley 1 0-0 2, Jordy Kosko 2 0-0 4, Gabby Sabatose 0 0-0 0, Brenna Engle 1 0-0 2, Abby Pettenati 0 0-0 0, Haylee Pettenati 0 0- 0 0, Martina Swalligan 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 15 5-7 37.
CURWENSVILLE — 35
Sabrina Spencer 4 0-0 8, Madison Olson 0 0-0 0, Madi Weber 7 4-5 20, Tara Jacobson 1 0-1 2, Brianna Swindell 1 0-0 3, Hannah Condon 0 0-0 0, Jordan Witherite 0 0-0 0, Emma Rebar 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 14 4-6 33.
Three-Point Field Goals — DuBois Central Catholic 2 (Wruble 2); Curwensville 3 (Weber 2, Swindell 1).
Score by Quarters
DuBois Central Catholic 6 4 6 21 – 37
Curwensville 10 4 8 12 – 35
Officials — Chris Sherkel and Craig Witherow.
Lady Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/08 | @ West Branch | 31 – 62 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/12 | MO VALLEY | 32 – 62 | 0 – 2 |
| 12/19 | HARMONY | 41 – 35 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/21 | @ St. Marys | 24 – 37 | 1 – 3 |
| 12/28 | CLEARFIELD | 15 – 45 | 1 – 4 |
| 01/03 | RIDGWAY | 33 – 46 | 1 – 5 |
| 01/05 | @ Brockway | ppd. | 1 – 5 |
| 01/09 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | 33 – 48 | 1 – 6 |
| 01/10 | WEST BRANCH | 19 – 37 | 1 – 7 |
| 01/12 | @ Brockway | ppd. | 1 – 7 |
| 01/16 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | 30 – 47 | 1 – 8 |
| 01/17 | @ Glendale | 37 – 52 | 1 – 9 |
| 01/19 | @ Kane | 23 – 60 | 1 – 10 |
| 01/22 | @ Brookville | 23 – 68 | 1 – 11 |
| 01/23 | @ Ridgway | 33 – 45 | 1 – 12 |
| 01/25 | BROCKWAY | 36 – 53 | 1 – 13 |
| 01/30 | @ Mo Valley | 41 – 66 | 1 – 14 |
| 01/31 | GLENDALE | 55 – 50 | 2 – 14 |
| 02/02 | @ Johnsonburg | 37 – 50 | 2 – 15 |
| 02/05 | @ Harmony | 46 – 27 | 3 – 15 |
| 02/06 | DUBOIS CENTRAL CATH | 35 – 37 | 3 – 16 |
| 02/09 | SHEFFIELD | ||
| 02/13 | @ Clearfield | ||
| 02/14 | @ Brockway |