Deep Shooting By West Branch Dooms Curwensville

CURWENSVILLE — Despite the loss on Friday night, the Curwensville Golden Tide seemed to be making some headway on the hardwood in terms of playing as a unit, and realizing that win or lose, they are a team.  That attitude was on full display on Monday night inside Patton Hall as the Tide welcomed the West Branch Warriors for a Mo Valley league showdown.

The Tide did play collectively one of their best games of the season.  But, when playing the Warriors, they had to account for not just how well they shoot the ball, but how many good shooters they have.  In the end, the deep opportunities for the Warriors were too much as Curwensville fell, 70-50.

“I thought our kids played well the entire game.  We just had too many turnovers early, and they were hot-shooting from the outside,” head coach Matt Wassil said afterwards.  “If they had an off-night, I think we could’ve had them.  We knew they were a good shooting team, and they proved it tonight.”

Wassil’s statement was very clear in the first half as the Warriors were putting the ball in from the perimeter almost at will, hitting seven shots from behind the arc.  West Branch would push out to an 11-0 lead before Curwensville got on the scoreboard.

At the end of one, the Warriors held an 18-6 advantage, and it was much of the same in the second stanza.

Not one Warrior player stood out on the night in one particular moment, as of the 10 players that took to the court, eight of them added points.  Trent Bellomy led the team with 18 points, 12 from three-point range, and Doug Kolesar added in another 15, all coming from the perimeter.  At the end of the night, the Warriors went 13-for-31 from beyond the arc, hitting them from the baseline, wing, and the top of the key.

That wasn’t to say Curwensville didn’t put up a fight at any point, as the second half for the Tide was much different, especially in the third quarter.

Curwensville came out hot, contesting a lot of the Warriors’ attempts from deep range, and forcing them into the paint.  In the third quarter, only seven shots went in for West Branch, of 17 attempts.

Wassil saw the difference in the second half as an extension of how they played against Brockway on Friday, saying, “We’re starting to see some growth and improvement.  Scott (Condon) crashed hard on the boards all night, Adam (Miller) crashed the boards all night, (Danny) McGarry was finally aggressive tonight.

“We’re looking like a totally different team, all we have to do now is just put it all together for a win.”

Miller added 18 points for Curwensville, but it was Trevor Lansberry leading all scorers with 22 points.  Condon’s big night on the boards led to a game-high 11 rebounds.

Curwensville also dropped the opening junior varsity contest, 57-29.

Although it did not result in a victory, the game was one of the best ones the Tide has played all year, and Wassil wanted to make sure his team knew that they had success on the night despite not getting the win.

“I just told them, ‘Stay the course.’  I know it’s tough when you’re not winning, but they are finally, in my opinion, playing the right way,” Wassil said.  “I can see our guys beginning to gel together, we’re not pointing fingers at anyone if someone makes a mistake.  We’re starting to understand that all of us will make mistakes, just make the next play.”

Curwensville (1-14) has two remaining home games on their schedule before going on the road for their last five.  Wednesday night they will host Glendale, who beat Curwensville at their first meeting back on January 15, 66-52.  Tip off for junior varsity is at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.

SCORE BY QUARTER

West Branch   18   20   21   11  –  70
Curwensville   6   13   19   12  –  50

West Branch – 70

Gutierrez 2 0-0 4, Bellomy 7 0-0 18, D. Kolesar 5 0-0 15, Eboch 3 1-2 8, Kristofits 4 1-3 9, Rothrock 2 1-2 7, Kopchik 2 0-0 5, Dale 2 0-0 4, Croyle 0 0-0 0, Tircorda 0 0-0 0, K. Colesar 0 0-0 0, Guglielmi 0 0-0 0, Graham 0 0-0 0, Williams 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 27 3-7 70.

Curwensville – 50

Lee 0 0-0 0, McGarry 3 2-4 8, Condon 0 0-0 0, Lansberry 8 4-9 22, Lezzer 1 0-0 2, Rowles 0 0-0 0, Mulaney 0 0-0 0, Colton 0 0-0 0, Miller 7 4-8 18, Swatsworth 0 0-0 0, Spencer 0 0-0 0.  TOTALS 19 10-21 50.

GAME STATISTICS
West Branch/Curwensville

Shooting:  27-60/19-39

Rebounds:  21/28

Fouls:  17/12

Turnovers:  14/28

Three-Point Shots:  Bellomy-4, D. Kolesar-5, Eboch, Rothrock-2, Kopchick/Lansberry-2

Golden Tide Scoreboard: