ALLPORT – If head coach Matt Wassil could just bottle the first quarter his Curwensville boys basketball team had against West Branch Wednesday night it would be a thing of beauty.
Unfortunately, there are four quarters to each game, and the Golden Tide‘s last three were not a thing of beauty as the Warriors slammed the door on Curwensville 71-29 at West Branch in a Moshannon Valley League contest.
Coach Wassil explained what went wrong after the first eight minutes, saying, “We broke their press in the first quarter which led us to points, but then turnovers caught up with us and we went ice cold from the floor after the first quarter.”
The Golden Tide started fast, jumping out to an early 8-2 margin thanks to sophomore Ty Terry hitting two three pointers after a game opening bucket by junior Scott Condon.
The Warriors kept it close as junior Trenton Bellomy hit a two pointer with 3:25 remaining in the first eight minutes to make it 13-9 in favor of the Tide.
Curwensville would later in the first stretch its lead to 17-12 on a basket by Trevor Lansberry at the 2:15 mark.
But it was Bellomy who kept the Warriors close and finally pushing, or shooting them, into the lead at the end of the first quarter, 20-19.
Bellomy ended the first with a total of 15 points that included three treys.
The Tide’s Terry had a really good first quarter also with eight points that included two three’s. But that was it for the talented Curwensville sophomore as he would end the contest with just those eight tallies.
Then the Golden Tide found it difficult to put the ball in the hoop. The Warriors had no difficulty at all as they outscored Curwensville 22-2 in the second frame to go up at the half 42-21.
It wasn’t much better for the Golden Tide in the second half either, being outscored 23-6 in the third quarter and 6-2 in the final stanza.
The Warriors Travis Rothrock brought on the 40 point mercy rule, 67-27, with a bucket just a few seconds into the fourth quarter.
Wassil then commented, “We have to have better basketball IQ at times out there and need to keep attacking the press as we did in the first quarter tonight. Plus we need to figure a way to put the ball in the hoop.”
Bellomy led all scorers on the evening with 30 points, scoring 11 more in the second quarter, while Rothrock, off of the West Branch bench added 10.
Terry’s eight first quarter points held up in pacing the Golden Tide offense.
West Branch is now 4-1 overall on the year and 2-0 in the Moshannon Valley League (MVL) while Curwensville dropped to 1-3 on the season and 1-1 in MVL play.
In junior varsity action it was West Branch downing the Tide by a score of 61-22.
The Tide now have a long layoff, as it will journey to Philipsburg-Osceola for its next game which is scheduled for Friday, December 27, with tip-off at 7:30 pm.
CURWENSVILLE – 29
Ty Terry 3 0-0 8, Danny McGarry 0 0-0 0, Scott Condon 3 0-2 6, Trevor Lansberry 3 0-0 6, Adam Miller 0 6-8 6, Michael Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Adam Kunkle 1 0-0 3, Jayson Rowles 0 0-0 0, Ty Tkacik 0 0-0 0, Landon Swatsworth 0 0-0 0
TOTALS – 10 6-10 29
WEST BRANCH – 71
Ayden Gutierrez 2 0-0 4, Trenton Bellomy 11 4-4 30, Doug Kolesar 2 0-0 6, Chance Eboch 3 1-3 7, Dalton Kristofits 2 0-0 4, Camden Kopchik 2 0-0 6, Travis Rothrock 4 2-5 10, Jackson Croyle 1 0-0 2, Kyle Kolesar 1 0-0 2, Anthony Guglielmi 0 0-0 0, Owen Graham 0 0-0 0, Draven Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Elijah Williams 0 0-0 0, TOTALS – 28 7-12 71
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CURWENSVILLE 19 2 6 2 29
WEST BRANCH 20 22 23 6 71
THREE-POINTERS: CURWENSVILLE – 3 Terry 2, Kunkle WEST BRANCH – 8 Bellomy 4, D. Kolesar 2, Kopchik 2
OFFICIALS: Jim Cushion, Dan Solomon, Keith Redfoot
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 12/06 | CLEARFIELD | 31 – 82 | 0 – 1 |
| 12/11 | MO VALLEY | 53 – 47 | 1 – 1 |
| 12/13 | @ Ridgway | 16 – 66 | 1 – 2 |
| 12/18 | @ West Branch | 29 – 71 | 1 – 3 |
| 12/27 | @ Philipsburg-Osceola | ||
| 01/03 | BROCKWAY | ||
| 01/07 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | ||
| 01/10 | HARMONY | ||
| 01/14 | @ Elk County Catholic | ||
| 01/15 | @ Glendale | ||
| 01/17 | KANE | ||
| 01/21 | RIDGWAY | ||
| 01/22 | PHILIPSBURG-OSCEOLA | ||
| 01/24 | @ Brockway | ||
| 01/27 | WEST BRANCH | ||
| 01/29 | GLENDALE | ||
| 01/31 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
| 02/04 | @ DuBois Central | ||
| 02/07 | @ Sheffield | ||
| 02/10 | @ Harmony | ||
| 02/12 | @ Mo Valley | ||
| 02/13 | @ Clearfield |