CURWENSVILLE — It looked bleak. The crowd looked disheartened. Players looked frustrated. Coaches looked conflicted. The atmosphere inside Patton Hall had a cold feeling among everyone, because the Curwensville Golden Tide were looking up at a scoreboard that saw the visiting Glendale Vikings put up 15 points. The home side of the scoreboard showed the same score as it had when the Tide won the opening tip…zero.
And yet, despite seeing that big of a gap, the final three quarters saw Curwensville not give in, and not yield when it mattered. For the remaining 24 minutes, Curwensville outscored the opposition, taking home a 40-36 victory that stunned even the home crowd.
“I’ve told my kids every year I’ve coached that I’m brutally honest. Some kids like that, some don’t, but I’m not going to change that. I told them in the locker room, ‘That’s the absolute worst first quarter I have ever seen,'” Tide head coach Matt Wassil said afterwards. “That doesn’t mean they are bad people, it was just bad basketball. But then, the next three quarters, it may not have been the best basketball, but it was the best heart I’ve seen out of them this year.”
Wassil certainly made it clear about the opening eight minutes, because Glendale came out quickly and forced three consecutive turnovers and got out to a 6-0 lead barely a minute into the game. Curwensville’s opportunities at the basket in the quarter were limited, as the press defense from the Vikings forced tough shots, and nine turnovers, which led to easy shots. After one quarter, Curwensville saw a 12-0 score that deflated everyone in the stands.
Part of that pressure in a way came with Ty Terry closing in on the 1000-point mark, and it was something that Wassil even acknowledged in the locker room with his senior point guard.
“When you get to that point where you know it is within reach, and you want to reach it, especially in a game like this, that’s a lot of pressure. But, I told him that the same folks that come see him score 16 points one night are the same ones who come see him score nine like he did tonight, or two another night,” Wassil said. “But, I told him I was proud of the effort, and he did a lot of good things tonight as well. He’s going to get there.”
After a three-pointer from Landen McGarvey put the Vikings up 15-0 early in the second quarter, a couple quick dishes to Chandler English on the opposite end finally put Curwensville on the scoreboard. Those baskets, along with some smart decisions with the ball, fueled a sudden 6-0 run to give the Tide some energy. Although they were outscored 18-8 in the first half, the 8-3 run that ended the second quarter seemed to give Curwensville some sudden momentum.
English had one of his best nights, putting up eight points but getting four key rebounds in the second half, plus a pair of blocks.
“It may be my biggest mistake this year in having him start rather than him come off the bench, and that’s not against anything that Chandler does for us. In the first two minutes or so, he seems nervous, but then once he settles into the game, he’s okay,” Wassil said. “We’ve seen that development in practice, just becoming more comfortable in becoming a player at this level.”
Glendale got the ball to start the second half, but literally instantly Terry struck with a quick steal, and then slammed the ball down for his first points of the night, and made the game a two-possession gap. Bit by bit, Curwensville began chipping away, but at the same time Glendale began trying to open it back up. Throughout the night, Mason Peterson was finding an open space in deep range, draining four shots from behind the arc, and finishing with a game-high 18 points. But, suddenly the press defense was working for the Tide, and the gap began to close, getting as close as a single possession at the end of the third, where Curwensville trailed 27-24.
It wasn’t until Parker Wood went to the foul line with just under seven minutes remaining in the game when Curwensville officially got their first lead of the night, going up 28-27 as Wood drained both his shots. Yet, at the opposite end McGarvey found a gap and hit another trey to get the lead back up to two points.
Still, Curwensville fought back, as Terry hit a pair of three’s from both sides of the key, and then helped feed his teammates to get penetration.
The key plays to get Curwensville ahead in the late going came from Danny McGarry, as he garnered all six of his assists in the second half, four in the final quarter, to give the Tide a chance to put the game away. Still, Glendale called some key timeouts in the final 30 seconds to keep possession, and get opportunities. The final Glendale timeout came with 10.3 seconds to go, just before Peterson threw up a three-pointer from the right wing that would have made it in. Officials waved it off because the timeout came while the ball was in hand.
The in-bounds pass that came after ended up being the play of the night.
Glendale got the ball in but lost the handle quickly. Curwensville’s Grant Swanson went after the ball on the ground, and once it was in hand, Wassil suddenly called timeout to ensure Curwensville had the possession.
“Grant, it’s a bit of cliche, but he came of age a little bit. He’s young, with no varsity experience until this year, and he has been trying to find his way,” Wassil said. “Tonight, I couldn’t get him off the floor. There were times where I’m like, ‘I gotta get him a break, get him off the floor and talk to him.’ Tonight, I couldn’t get him off the floor, there was literally no reason to.”
Curwensville took the inbounds pass with just seconds remaining, and the lone option left was for the Vikings to foul, and did so on Terry with just three seconds remaining, putting him at the line for a 1-and-1. Down 38-36 lead, Glendale needed the first shot to miss to have an opportunity at a game-ending heave. That shot went right in the net. Wassil pulled his team back in case the second shot did not make it in, giving Curwensville a chance to play defense.
One dribble, and Terry took the shot, hitting only the net, and sealing the game for Curwensville in dramatic fashion.
Terry remains seven points short of the 1000-point mark for his career, but will have a chance to reach that in front of the home crowd on Tuesday as Curwensville (4-13) hosts Bellwood-Antis. Jayvees will tip at 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Glendale 12 6 9 9 – 36
Curwensville 0 8 16 16 – 40
Glendale – 36
Mason Peterson 6 2-2 18, Logan Cree 3 0-2 7, Tanner Holes 1 0-0 2, Connor Potutsching 0 0-0 0, Landen McGarvey 3 0-0 9, Logen Krepps 0 0-0 0, Jacob Lukehart 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 13 2-4 36.
Curwensville – 40
Andrew Wassil 2 0-0 5, Ty Terry 3 1-2 9, Tyler Lee 0 0-0 0, Danny McGarry 2 2-2 6, Davis Fleming 1 1-1 3, Chandler English 4 0-0 8, Parker Wood 2 2-4 6, Ayden Sutike 0 0-0 0, Grant Swanson 1 0-0 3. TOTALS 15 6-9 40.
GAME STATISTICS
Glendale/Curwensville
Shooting: 13-56/15-49
Rebounds: 24/27
Fouls: 11/6
Turnovers: 20/19
Three-Point Shots: Peterson-4, Cree, McGarvey-3/Wassil, Terry-2, Swanson