CURWENSVILLE — Things this year have certainly changed a lot for the Curwensville Golden Tide cagers in the last several weeks. The team has been playing as a cohesive unit, trusting one another, and playing with more pride. That confidence continued on Tuesday evening, once more inside a packed and rowdy Patton Hall, as the Glendale Vikings came in for a night of basketball.
That confidence and cohesiveness was tested early on, but the home squad would not quit, roaring back to make the home crowd excited and empowered. Unfortunately, Curwensville’s rally fell short, as Glendale handed the Tide a tough 42-40 loss.
The Vikings would get a charge early on, as they held Curwensville to only a pair of shots from the floor in the first quarter, taking a 14-4 lead after eight minutes.
But, the home squad would not go quietly, as a sluggish first quarter gave the Tide a reason to get rolling. In the second, they would nearly triple the scoring output, but still headed into the locker room with a 27-15 gap needing to be made up.
When the Tide emerged from the locker room, their third quarter was the jolt they needed, as Curwensville got the ball moved around, as David Fleming and Parker Wood each got opportunities to put the ball in the bucket. Their 17-point effort in the third cut the lead to three, 35-32, setting up a fourth quarter that was worth the admission price, whether a parent or a student.
Curwensville and Glendale went back-and-forth the entire fourth quarter, but Glendale was able to hold the Tide to just having Wood put points on the board. The tall center put up eight of his game-high 16 points in the final quarter, while the remaining roster struggled to get the ball in the net. Still, the two squads would go down to the wire, as Glendale got eight opportunities at the foul line during the last eight minutes, and when needed, the Vikings delivered just enough to secure the victory.
It will be a few days before Curwensville (5-7) is back on the hardwood, and will do so again inside Patton Hall, this time on Friday night when they host the Moshannon Valley Black Knights. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. for junior varsity. The varsity action will follow.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Glendale 14 13 8 7 – 42
Curwensville 4 11 17 8 – 40
Glendale – 42
Connor Potutsching 2 4-4 8, Logan Cree 0 0-2 0, Tanner Holes 1 0-0 2, Landen McGarvey 4 2-4 13, M. Peterson 6 0-2 15, Joey Kitko 1 2-2 4, Cameron Dreibelbis 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 14 8-14 42.
Curwensville – 40
Andrew Wassil 2 2-2 7, Dan McGarry 1 2-2 4, Grant Swanson 0 0-0 0, Davis Fleming 4 0-0 9, Chandler English 0 2-2 2, Hunter Tkacik 0 0-0 0, Ty Colton 0 0-0 0, Parker Wood 8 0-1 16, Ayden Sutika 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 16 6-7 40.
