GLENDALE – Glendale (8-7) was able to pick up the season sweep of Curwensville (4-9) in girls basketball Thursday evening as a late comeback attempt from the Lady Tide saw them come up just short in a 51-45 final.
While no loss is fun, Curwensville lost to Glendale 50-14 earlier this season, signaling growth as a team throughout the 2021-22 campaign and a much better effort in the season’s second matchup.
The contest was tight throughout as Glendale was able to get out to a narrow 12-10 advantage after the first period of play as Minyah Easterling wasted little time getting into a zone scoring the basketball. The sophomore forward scored six of her game-high 24 points in the opening quarter to help Glendale play from in front out of the gate.
Curwensville’s fellow post player, senior Alyssa Bakaysa, went toe-to-toe with Easterling throughout the game as she matched Easterling’s six in the first period and led Curwensville’s offense with 22 for the game.
The second quarter saw the Lady Vikings extend the lead by four points as the offense as a team got going with 19 points for the quarter. Riley Best was one of the key players who stepped up in the second quarter for Glendale as she scored six of her 12 points for the game in the period to help Glendale outscore the Lady Tide 19-15 and help the Lady Vikings to a 31-25 halftime advantage.
Out of halftime, Glendale was able to extend their lead to double-digits by the end of the third quarter as Easterling scored eight more to grow the lead to 45-34. Bakaysa continued to score right with Easterling in the third as she poured in seven points of her own, including a three pointer.
The fourth quarter was one in which the Lady Tide went on a run, but they couldn’t get enough combined buckets or defensive stops to be able to complete a solid comeback attempt in the game’s final period. Curwensville outscored the Lady Vikings 11-6 in the final quarter as Skylar Pentz and Kyra Henry each nailed three pointers to help spark the offense late in the game.
In the end, a sluggish start out of the third quarter paired with the lead Glendale built to open the game were not something Curwensville could overcome as the comeback ended a little short in a 51-45 victory for the Lady Vikings.
Joining Bakaysa in double-figures for Curwensville was Skylar Pentz who scored 14 points for the game in the loss. Kyra Henry added five for the Lady Tide, with Karleigh Freyer and Austyn Guiher each adding two points for Curwensville.
Behind Easterling and Best’s offensive contributions were Madison Peterson, Alyssa Sinclair, and Casey Kuhn who each added four points in the win for Glendale Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Vikings was Breann Kuhn as all three of her points came on a trey ball in the second quarter.
Thursday’s contest ends Curwensville’s week as the team will hit the road for the second of four straight road games on Monday, January 31 as they take on Bellwood-Antis. Junior-varsity is set to play prior to the varsity game with a 6:00 p.m. start in Bellwood, with the varsity game tip set for 7:30 p.m.
GLENDALE – 51
Casey Kuhn 2 0-0 4, Breann Kuhn 1 0-0 3, Riley Best 6 0-1 12, Alyssa Sinclair 2 0-4 4, Minyah Easterling 11 2-2 24, Kaprice Cavalet 0 0-0 0, Madison Peterson 1 2-4 4. TOTALS 22 4-11 51.
CURWENSVILLE – 45
Alyssa Bakaysa 6 7-8 22, Skylar Pentz 3 2-2 14, Austyn Guiher 1 0-0 2, Kyra Henry 1 0-0 5, Karleigh Freyer 1 0-0 2, Savannah Carfley 0 0-0 0, Addison Butler 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 12 9-12 45.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
GLENDALE 12 19 14 6 51.
CURWENSVILLE 10 15 9 11 45.
THREE-POINTERS: GLENDALE – 1 B. Kuhn 1. CURWENSVILLE – 4 Pentz 2, Henry 1, Bakaysa 1.