PHILIPSBURG – The Curwensville boys basketball team hit the road for a matchup with Bald Eagle Area on Tuesday night in the opening game of the Philipsburg-Osceola Tournament. The Golden Tide (2-3) couldn’t overcome a slow start as the Bald Eagles picked up the victory by a final score of 57-37.
After being down by just seven after the first quarter 12-5, the Bald Eagles got a huge offensive boost from Alex Gavlock in the second quarter as he connected on three of his four trey balls for the game in the second quarter. This helped extend the lead for Bald Eagle Area to a 23 point lead going into the halftime break.
“We were kind of tentative, and I thought we played a little scared in the first-half,” said Curwensville Head Basketball Coach Matt Wassil. They played fast, and we played slow. We just did not match what they were doing offensively or defensively in the first-half, and it really put us in a deep hole.”
It was not all negative from the Golden Tide in this one as they battled back and had a much stronger second half. Ty Terry scored 16 of his game high 21 points in the second-half as he connected on three, three-pointers in the fourth quarter to help the Golden Tide outscore the Bald Eagles 13-7 in the final period.
“In the second-half, I was pretty pleased with our effort,” Wassil said. “I thought our guys battled back and battled through the rough spot in the first-half, but obviously, you can’t score just 10 points in a half and have many chances to win.”
The Golden Tide also executed well in their gameplan to limit Kahle Burns success in the paint as he finished with just six points in this one. Coach Wassil spoke about the strong interior defense his team showed as well as the impressive games Bald Eagle Area got from Gavlock and Blaze Angelloti.
“We were really trying to keep Burns out of the paint, and we did a pretty darn good job of it. Those other two kids for them (Gavlock and Angelloti) really stepped up for secondary points. I give those two a lot of credit. We needed some of our guys in those secondary scoring roles to step up, but we did not really get that as much today. I think that it was probably the difference of the game.”
Curwensville was unable to get the balanced scoring Coach Wassil talked about post game in their double-overtime win over Glendale last week which served as key factor in Bald Eagle Area coming out on top. Braden Holland and Parker Wood each scored five points for the Golden Tide, while Davis Fleming connected on a three pointer in the first quarter. Rounding out the scoring for Curwensville was Ayden Sutika with two and Danny McGarry who connected on a free throw.
The Bald Eagles were paced by Gavlock who finished the night with 21 points of his own while Angelloti also scored in double-figures as he finished with 12 for the game. Chase Thompson also provided a second-half scoring boost for the Bald Eagles as he added all seven of his points, including a three, in the final two quarters.
“We need a fast start and a strong finish,” said Coach Wassil on what his keys to victory are before each game. “We didn’t have a fast start despite usually being pretty good in the first-half. It seemed like it flipped on us today, so we have to make sure we start fast tomorrow.”
“Philipsburg is a long, athletic team, and if we are not ready to play with the speed that they play with and the fact that they like to trap and run all over the floor, we will in a tough battle. We have to come out faster and be ready to play from the opening tip.”
The Golden Tide will look to rebound tomorrow, Wednesday, December 29 as the team heads back to Philipsburg-Osceola High School for a contest against the host program. The contest is slated to tip-off at 7:30 p.m.
CURWENSVILLE – 37
Andrew Wassil 0 0-0 0, Ty Terry 1 1-1 21, Connor Luzier 0 0-0 0, Tyler Lee 1 0-1 0, Danny Mcgarry 1 1-2 1, Grant Swanson 2 0-0 0, Davis Fleming 0 0-0 3, Chandler English 1 0-0 0, Braeden Holland 0 1-3 5, Parker Wood 2 1-3 5, Ayden Sutika 1 0-0 2, TOTALS 9 4-10 37.
BALD EAGLE – 57
Kahale Burns 1 1-2 6, Chase Thompson 0 0-0 7, Alex Gavlock 4 3-4 21, Cam Watkins 3 0-0 4, Blaze Angelloti 2 2-4 12 Tyler Serb 1 0-0 5, Kieran Jodon 2 0-0 2, Kaden Burns 0 0-0 0, Tre Greene 2 0-0 0, Brayden Dubbs 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 15 6-10 57.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CURWENSVILLE 5 5 14 13 37
BALD EAGLE 12 21 17 7 57
THREE-POINTERS: CURWENSVILLE – 5 Terry 4, Fleming 1 BALD EAGLE – 7 Gavlock 4, Burns 1, Thompson 1, Sers 1