CURWENSVILLE — One of the toughest opponents for the Curwensville Golden Tide cagers was welcomed into Patton Hall for a major showdown on the season. The Tide looked to finish off the first half of their season with a victory, but in order to do so, it meant they had to put the first blemish on the record of the West Branch Warriors.
The “Coaches vs. Cancer” night for both teams turned into a runaway early, and often. The Warriors got hold of some early momentum, draining shots and gaining rebounds, handing Curwensville a tough 76-47 loss that was not as close as the final score showcased.
“We had a good idea of how they were going play. I wasn’t shocked at their athleticism, we have been watching these guys all summer long, even played them in summer league,” Curwensville head coach Josh Tkacik during the post game. “We knew what we were going to get with them, and when you play against a team so cohesive, you have to meet that. If you have the talent, which I know we do, you have to exceed that. We just did not meet their speed and athleticism, and things got away from us really quickly.”
Curwensville got the first bucket of the night, and the two then traded possessions to tie the game up at four points each early on. Then, a deep shot from Zach McGonigal put the Warriors up 7-4, and that was as close as the Tide managed to get. The Warriors racked up basket after basket, forcing turnovers, and caused Tkacik to call three timeouts in the first quarter to try and calm his team down.
After the first eight minutes, West Branch held a 34-10 advantage, and was not letting up. From the opening tip, the Warriors were crashing the boards, out-rebounding Curwensville 31-17 on the night, with Joel Evans leading on the boards with seven. The second quarter was the same song, different verse, as the Warriors kept the pressure on, taking a 52-21 lead into the locker room that ensured a running clock for the remainder of the game.
“A couple of their guys can straight-up jump out of the gym, but the guys that can’t, they too were crashing hard. They absolutely wanted everything more than us tonight,” Tkacik said.
By contrast, West Branch head coach Danny Clark, looked at his team and how they rode early momentum as a team, stating, “It’s collective. Along with Owen (Koleno), we had Zach, who’s not played the last couple games due to an injury with his foot, came back to get those early shots.”
Koleno would finish the night with a game-high 23 points, while Isaac Tiracorda contributed 16, and both Evans plus Dylan McGonigal each added in 11 points.
Despite a running clock in the second half, West Branch continued to push the pace, and by the time the fourth quarter came around, the 72-38 score was enough that Clark let a lot of his bench to get extra playing time with the game in hand.
“Honestly, I did not expect that tonight. I felt it was going to be a bit closer, but then we had those two dunks from Isaac in the third, you could see it deflated them,” Clark said.
Curwensville had only one scorer in double figures, as Parker Wood bucketed 16 for the game. Davis Fleming led the team with six assists and five steals, while Braden Holland pulled down seven boards. Neither team saw the foul line much on the night, as the two combined for only 11 free throws.
Even in the loss, Tkacik’s team sits at 7-4 through the first half of the season, the best record by the Tide in the last decade, and the second-year head coach acknowledged that the talent and desire the team has was going to pay dividends, both on and off the court.
“That’s something, for when these guys are done playing, whenever that day is, that perseverance and grit, that’s what you need to be a successful adult in society,” he said. “Our hurdle right now, picking ourselves up after a loss, and try to get better tomorrow than we were today.”
That opportunity will come Thursday night as Curwensville will travel to face the Moshannon Valley Black Knights.
SCORE BY QUARTER
West Branch 34 18 20 4 – 76
Curwensville 10 11 17 9 – 47
West Branch – 76
Lukas Colton 0 0-0 0, Joel Evans 5 1-2 11, Zach McGonigal 3 0-0 8, Owen Koleno 11 0-0 23, Isaac Tiracorda 8 0-0 16, Dylan McGonigal 4 0-0 11, Noah Emigh 1 0-2 2, Logan Kolp 0 0-0 0, Easton Emigh 2 0-0 5, Logan Liptak 0 0-0 0, Coby Kephart 0 0-0 0, Frank Leskovansky 0 0-0 0, Conner Danko 0 0-0 0, Max Gibson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 34 1-4 76.
Curwensville – 47
Andrew Wassil 1 1-2 4, Evan McCartney 0 0-0 0, Grant Swanson 3 0-0 8, Davis Fleming 4 0-0 8, Braden Holland 2 2-2 6, Dante Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Hunter Tkacik 1 0-0 2, Louie Tkacik 0 1-3 1, Parker Wood 8 0-0 16, Ethan Siegal 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 20 4-7 47.
GAME STATISTICS
West Branch/Curwensville
- Shooting: 34-54/20-50
- Rebounds: 31/17
- Fouls: 10/8
- Turnovers: 19/17
- Three-Point Shots: Z. McGonigal-2, Koleno, D. McGonigal-3, Ea. Emigh/Wassil, Swanson-2
GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/06 @ Harmony 79 – 60 1 – 0
12/08 @ St. Joe’s Catholic 69 – 45 2 – 0
12/11 WILLIAMSBURG 53 – 63 2 – 1
12/14 @ Juniata Valley 81 – 95 2 – 2
12/18 CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL 67 – 59 3 – 2
12/21 GLENDALE 55 – 46 4 – 2
12/22 BUCKTAIL 68 – 56 5 – 2
12/28 CLEARFIELD 43 – 56 5 – 3
01/02 HARMONY 65 – 60 6 – 3
01/05 @ Brockway 63 – 38 7 – 3
01/08 WEST BRANCH 47 – 76 7 – 4
01/11 @ Mo Valley
01/16 @ Williamsburg
01/19 @ Mt. Union
01/23 JUNIATA VALLEY
01/26 @ Glendale
02/02 @ West Branch
02/05 KEYSTONE
02/06 MO VALLEY
02/10 @ DuBois Central Catholic
02/13 @ Clearfield
02/15 @ Bucktail