Brockway Pressure and Slow Start Hurt Golden Tide in Loss

CURWENSVILLE — After a week off following their last game against the Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties, the Curwensville Golden Tide cagers welcomed in the new year and decade inside Patton Hall with an Allegheney Mountain League South Division contest against the Brockway Rovers.

That new year started off quickly for the visitors, as they turned up the pressure from opening tip to final buzzer.  Curwensville, try as they might, did everything they could to keep up with the opposition, but turnovers and the fast pace were too much as the Tide fell, 54-39, in a game that was not as close as the score showed. The Rovers moved to 3-6 with the victory, as the Tide fell to 1-5 overall.

“We had that in our scouting report that they were going to press us,” head coach Matt Wassil said afterwards.  “In the first half, we didn’t do a good job in taking care of the ball and attacking the pressure.  I thought in the second half, we were more organized, but we were putting too much pressure on our guards while our two big guys are just back there watching.

“I told them in the locker room we need all five guys in the press break.  We just have to handle it better.”

Brockway raced out to a 7-0 advantage before Wassil called an early time just over a minute into the game, then quickly called a second one two minutes later.  Brockway took advantage of the quick breaks as well, and capitalized on every aspect.  Whether offensive rebounds, defensive rebounds, inside game or outside, the Rovers had it covered in the first quarter as they pulled out to a 19-8 lead.

Curwensville got into trouble as their big center, Adam Miller, finished the first half with three fouls to his credit, which hurt the Tide on the defensive side, and ultimately he picked up his fourth early in the third quarter.  Wassil was forced to sit him for most of the second half, hindering the play of the Tide’s zone.

“We get considerably smaller with him off the floor.  What happens then is we have trouble rebounding defensively,” Wassil said.  “You may have a good possession on defense, but then they ultimately get two or three more chances to score (due to rebounds).  I always tell the kids the possession isn’t over till you get that rebound or a steal.”

Curwensville’s second quarter was better in that they did not have as many turnovers, but they still found themselves playing from behind, as they went into the locker room down by 18, mainly thanks to Alec Freemen and his 14 points in the first half.  He finished as the highest scorer on the night with 19 points, while adding in another eight rebounds and a pair of assists.

Wassil’s squad had a better second half, outscoring the Rovers 21-18, but Brockway was still taking advantage of turnovers and fouls, as Miller ultimately fouled out in the fourth quarter.  The Rovers mostly played keep-away in the final eight minutes, adding only five points.

Curwensville finished with Ty Terry and Trevor Lansberry in double digits with 13 and 11 points, respectively, while Danny McGarry led in rebounds with five.

The Tide also dropped the opening junior varsity contest, 39-28.

Wassil knows his team had a week since they last played due to the holiday break, but also felt that the one thing holding them back thus far isn’t their actual play on the court, but when his team seems to find a rhythm.

“I think we need to get a better start.  We just seem tentative and scared to get into games, and it seems to take almost a quarter and a half to get that out of us,” he said.  “We have to get over that.  I know we have some youth out there, but that’s no excuse.  We have guys that have played a lot of minutes in certain situations.

“We just have to get better.”

Curwensville is back on the hardwood on Tuesday when they host DuBois Central Catholic with a 6 p.m. tip for junior varsity, and the varsity to follow.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Brockway   19   17   13   5  –  54
Curwensville   8   10   8   13  –  39

Brockway – 54

Wolff 0 0-0 0, Marchiori 2 0-0 4, Wood 3 1-2 9, Galnette 0 2-2 2, Schmader 1 0-0 2, Bullers 1 0-0 2, M. Bennett 1 0-0 3, Freemen 1 2-6 4, Copelli 6 4-5 19, Snell 2 0-0 4, Painter 0 0-0 0, C. Bennett 2 3-5 7.  TOTALS 18 12-20 54.

Curwensville – 39

Terry 4 2-3 13, Lee 0 0-0 0, McGarry 1 1-4 3, Condon 0 2-4 2, Lansberry 4 3-3 11, Lezzer 1 2-3 4, Rowles 0 0-0 0, Mullaney 0 0-0 0, Colton 0 0-0 0, Miller 3 0-0 6, Swatsworth 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 13 10-17 39.

GAME STATISTICS
Brockway/Curwensville

Shooting:  18-45/13-35

Turnovers:  11/20

Fouls:  19/14

Rebounds:  33/22

Three-Point Shots:  Wood-2, Bullers, Freemen-3/Terry-3

Foul Out:  Miller

Golden Tide Scoreboard: