CURWENSVILLE — After all the highs and lows that have came with this year’s season, the Curwensville Golden Tide cagers were glad to see the final game of the regular season arrive. Considering the original season finale was to be the night before, the Tide were glad to have one more game in the season. This one would take place inside Patton Hall, as the Juniata Valley Hornets would finally make the journey after having the first two opportunities be snowed out.
Apparently the wait was worth it for the visitors, as they would take control of the game in the first half, and hand Curwensville its seventh loss in a row, and second straight loss at home.
The Hornets got production early in the game from Connor Robinson, who accounted for nine of the visitor’s 19 opening quarter points on the night. At the same time, Curwensville would not go quietly in the first eight minutes, as they kept within two possessions, only being down by four entering the second stanza.
That is when Juniata Valley would put up their best defense of the night, limiting Curwensville to just nine points.
Robinson continued to dominate, as he put up another 10 of his 21 total in the frame, allowing the Hornets to take a 39-24 lead into halftime. In the second half, the Tide had better production, but the Hornets stayed just enough ahead to pull away. Charlie Mattas got rolling, as he finished with a game-high 25 points. Along with he and Robinson, Chris Deihl added in another 11 to join in the double-digit stats.
Curwensville’s highest production on the night came from Dan McGarry, as he put up a team-high 14 points, half coming via the free throw line. The Tide would shoot 75 percent from the line, going 12-for-16. Juniata Valley did not go to the line as much, but finished 5-for-6, making the most of the opportunities.
Along with McGarry, Parker Wood made double figures with his 13-point effort.
The Tide finished the regular season with an 8-14 record, but lost a lot of momentum in the latter part of the year. Including the last seven games, the Tide dropped eight of their last 11 games. It will be Thursday at the earliest that Curwensville hears their playoff fate, including date, opponent and location.
Juniata Valley 19 20 18 19 – 76
Curwensville 15 9 15 15 – 54
Juniata Valley – 76
Chris Deihl 4 2-2 11, Connor Robinson 8 3-4 21, Eli McFadden 1 0-0 2, Reid Edwards 4 0-0 8, Charlie Mattas 11 0-0 25, Kendan Beck 0 0-0 0, Ayden Bark 1 0-0 2, Gavin Musser 0 0-0 0, Jett Rand 1 0-0 2, Ronal Chavez 2 0-0 5, Laken Cook 0 0-0 0, Dakota Baumia 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 32 5-6 76.
Curwensville – 54
Andrew Wassil 2 3-4 9, Louie Tkacik 0 0-0 0, Dan McGarry 3 7-9 14, Grant Swanson 1 0-0 3, Davis Fleming 1 0-0 2, Chandler English 3 1-1 7, Hunter Tkacik 0 0-0 0, Ty Colton 1 0-0 2, Parker Wood 6 1-2 13, Ayden Sutika 2 0-0 4. TOTALS 19 12-16 54.
Final Regular Season Scoreboard:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/02 CLEARFIELD 39 – 56 0 – 1
12/12 @ Mo Valley 44 – 35 1 – 1
12/15 GLENDALE ppd. 1 – 1
12/19 BELLWOOD-ANTIS 62 – 54 2 – 1
12/20 HARMONY 51 – 59 2 – 2
12/23 JUNIATA VALLEY ppd. 2 – 2
12/28 & 29 @ Philipsburg-Osceola Tourney
12/28 vs. Philipsburg-Osceola 44 – 74 2 – 3
12/29 vs. Bald Eagle Area 39 – 53 2 – 4
01/04 WILLIAMSBURG 45 – 61 2 – 5
01/05 @ Brockway 63 – 28 3 – 5
01/09 @ West Branch 46 – 67 3 – 6
01/11 MT. UNION 59 – 58 4 – 6
01/13 BROCKWAY 56 – 16 5 – 6
01/17 GLENDALE 40 – 42 5 – 7
01/20 MO VALLEY 63 – 40 6 – 7
01/24 @ Glendale 70 – 34 7 – 7
01/25 JUNIATA VALLEY ppd. 7 – 7
01/27 @ Bellwood-Antis 66 – 58 8 – 7
01/31 @ Juniata Valley 56 – 75 8 – 8
02/03 @ Williamsburg 56 – 65 8 – 9
02/07 WEST BRANCH 62 – 64 8 – 10
02/08 @ Harmony 62 – 76 8 – 11
02/10 @ Mt. Union 44 – 47 8 – 12
02/14 @ Clearfield 39 – 69 8 – 13
02/15 JUNIATA VALLEY 45 – 76 8 – 14
