CURWENSVILLE — The busy week for the Curwensville Lady Tide continued on Wednesday night, the midway point of a stretch of five consecutive games in as many days. This Covid-chaotic season for everyone saw schedules shift almost daily, and the Lady Tide had little time to make up as many postponed games as possible. On Wednesday, they would welcome in the West Branch Lady Warriors for an evening tip-off that had no junior varsity game on the slate.
As the game wore on, things got a bit physical, but not to the point of aggression. But the aggressive team on this night was the visitors, as an overwhelming first quarter was more than enough to hold off Curwensville, handing the home squad a 55-33 loss that was not as close as the score would indicate.
West Branch got out to a quick start in the opening quarter, as Jenna Mertz would find the basket the most in the frame. Four different scorers in the opening quarter, along with solid defense that caused Curwensville to turn the ball over nine times, would push the Warriors to a 17-3 lead that never yielded. Curwensville began drawing back in after the first quarter buzzer sounded, but only managed seven points in the second frame, and would still trail by six possessions heading into the locker room.
The scoring by West Branch only came from four players, but three of them would hit double figures. Mertz led all scoring with 26 points, while Sarah Betts added in another 13 and Katrina Cowder accounted for 12. Curwensville, despite the turnovers, played disciplined basketball, only rendering three fouls on the night, and only forcing the Warriors to the foul line on four occasions.
By contrast, West Branch committed 18 fouls on the night, many coming in the second half, which is where things got interesting.
West Branch and Curwensville began getting physical in both rebounds, and some floor play. It got aggravating to an extent from both benches that some of the incidents were not called, seemingly escalating the physicality. The second half alone, West Branch committed 11 fouls, putting Curwensville into the double-bonus for foul shooting. But, the Tide would ultimately not capitalize on the free opportunities at the line.
Combined, Curwensville only went 7-for-23 at the charity stripe, just under 30 percent.
Every Curwensville player would get on the scoreboard on the night, as Alyssa Bakaysa put forth a double-double as she accounted for 13 points and 14 rebounds. Skylar Pentz would finish with a team-high six assists.
Curwensville (5-12) is back inside Patton Hall on Thursday night for a 6:30 tip-off against Dubois. No junior varsity game will be played.
SCORE BY QUARTER
West Branch 17 9 18 11 – 55
Curwensville 3 7 9 14 – 33
WEST BRANCH – 55
Sarah Betts 6 0-0 13, Torre Kalke 2 0-0 4, Emily Parks 0 0-0 0, Ella Miller 0 0-0 0, Jenna Mertz 12 1-4 26, Kaitlyn McGonigal 0 0-0 0, Kayleigh Smeal 0 0-0 0, Allison Shingledecker 0 0-0 0, Erin Godin 0 0-0 0, Madison McDowell 0 0-0 0, Hannah Betts 0 0-0 0, Katrina Cowder 6 0-0 12, Montana Williams 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 25 1-4 55.
CURWEWNSVILLE – 33
Alyssa Bakaysa 6 1-4 13, Joslynne Freyer 1 1-9 3, Kyra Henry 4 0-0 8, Skylar Pentz 1 1-2 3, Desaray Cossar 0 2-2 2, Rachelle Anderson 1 0-0 2, Jaiden Weber 0 1-4 1, Savannah Carfley 0 1-2 1. TOTALS 13 7-23 33.