CURWENSVILLE — The emotions and let down from the previous game, a 54-51 loss to Keystone, were still lingering from the night before. At the same time, there was a lot of takeaways that could be used the next night. Along with that, it was the night where coaches and fans could honor the graduating seniors that have given so much to the Golden Tide basketball program, whether for a short time, or for most of their years in school. On this evening, the opposition for the Golden Tide was a familiar rival in the Moshannon Valley Black Knights.
What was a frustrating night 24 hours earlier instead became one of joy and triumph as the Tide ended their 3-game skid with a 57-40 victory in front of a packed Patton Hall.
“We made adjustments as far as play calling, namely the way we approach things, and that gave us a lot of opportunities for high-percentage shooting,” Curwensville head coach Josh Tkacik said afterwards. “We were able to increase our field goal percentage as we were able to get out and run, transition, and attack. There were some things we knew we wanted to do based on the first time we played them, and to execute that was huge.”
The five seniors started the game for Curwensville, with all getting in valuable minutes, but the underclassmen were the ones that accounted for the most scoring in the opening stanza. The Tide held a 15-8 lead after one, forcing turnovers and getting the run to capture and keep the lead. Although the seniors did not account for the scoring, Tkacik felt what they gave to the team was more than just a stat line, but instead what they helped make the group as a whole.
“Four of our five seniors scored points, but all five have done so much for this program,” he said. “Look at Ethan Siegel, he’s only been with us for maybe three months. He was involved with us in elementary school, then got out of it, but he came back because he wanted to be around these guys. He wanted one more run with them. Look at Andrew Wassil, Parker Wood, Braden Holland and Grant Swanson; it’s no exaggeration when I say those guys have been my shadow for the last two years.
“I love those guys, and I trust them immensely. What they’ve done for our program is just another step forward from last year. What Ty, Aiden, and Danny started, these five guys have carried that torch and moved us that much far forward.”
Wood would start finding his groove under the basket in the second quarter, putting up six points in what ended up being a double-double effort for the big senior center. He would put up 12 points, and just as many rebounds, as the Tide would take a 29-19 lead into the locker room.
The Black Knights would not go quietly, as the second quarter for the visiting squad was a vast improvement from the opening eight minutes. Moshannon Valley used timely rebounds and shots to pull within a possession of Curwensville, and also hit a buzzer-beating three to cut the lead to 10 points, very similar to how Keystone would finish the first half the night prior. But, going into the locker room holding a 10-point advantage against the Black Knights felt a lot different than going into the locker room the night prior thinking they were down just two possessions, and instead were down by three.
“We went into the locker room and talked about some things I saw from the sideline that needed cleaned up, and some things coach Fleming saw that needed cleaned up, and the guys were having great dialogue and conversing,” Tkacik said. “That’s the beauty of guys with experience. Playing with seniors and juniors, they can sit in the locker room and go ‘When this guy is cutting, be ready to make this adjustment,’ and they can communicate that so well.
“A year ago, maybe we were not as vocal as openly. But the guys were able to communicate that, and we came out on that first possession in the second half, take control of things with our man defense, and we did that.”
The one that took control the most to put the game out of reach was Hunter Tkacik, as he would account for nine of his game-high 14 points in the second half, all coming from deep range near the baseline. Davis Fleming would also get rolling in the second half, but as a feed man instead of a scorer. Despite scoring 12 points, he would add in six rebounds, seven assists, and four steals.
Late in the game, Tkacik would have his seniors take a curtain call and the underclassmen would finish out the game, locking in the tenth win on the year for the Tide.
Sitting at 10-9, Curwensville’s week is not done, but it will have a unique finish. The Tide will play a third game in the week as they will travel to face DuBois Central Catholic, but instead of doing so for a nightcap for the school week, the Tide and Cardinals will have a matinee showdown on Saturday afternoon. The unique game time in the eyes of Tkacik is almost a warmup of sorts down the line.
“It may be a blessing in disguise,” he said with a smirk. “Depending on how district (playoffs) go, we may end up playing on a Saturday afternoon. So, it may be a nice little warm-up just in case we end up having to play a playoff game in the afternoon.”
Tip-off for the Saturday game will be at 2:30 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Moshannon Valley 8 11 8 13 – 40
Curwensville 15 14 13 15 – 57
Moshannon Valley – 40
Micah Beish 2 0-0 4, Landyn Evans 4 1-4 9, Kaden Kephart 3 0-0 8, Zach Reifer 1 1-2 4, Kyle Merrick 1 0-0 3, Kaden Mills 0 0-0 0, Valent Cervenak 0 0-0 0, Carter Weakland 5 0-0 10, Troy Canner 1 0-0 2, Colby Reifer 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 17 2-6 40.
Curwensville – 57
Andrew Wassil 0 0-0 0, Evan McCartney 0 0-0 0, Grant Swanson 2 0-0 6, Davis Fleming 5 1-2 12, Chandler English 0 0-0 0, Braden Holland 1 6-6 9, Dante Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Hunter Tkacik 5 1-2 14, Louie Tkacik 0 2-2 2, Parker Wood 6 0-0 12, Ethan Siegal 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 20 10-14 57.
GAME STATISTICS
Moshannon Valley/Curwensville
- Shooting: 17-53/20-66
- Rebounds: 29/37
- Fouls: 10/9
- Turnovers: 12/12
- Three-Point Shots: Kephart-2, Z. Reifer, Merrick/Swanson-2, Fleming, Holland, H. Tkacik-3
- Technical Foul: Curwensville (Warm-up violation)
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 74 – 53 8 – 4
01/16 @ Williamsburg ppd. 8 – 4
01/19 @ Mt. Union ppd. 8 – 4
01/23 JUNIATA VALLEY 75 – 86 8 – 5
01/25 @ Williamsburg 48 – 52 8 – 6
01/26 @ Glendale 42 – 36 9 – 6
01/31 @ Mt. Union 46 – 53 9 – 7
02/02 @ West Branch 49 – 63 9 – 8
02/05 KEYSTONE 51 – 54 9 – 9
02/06 MO VALLEY 57 – 40 10 – 9
02/10 @ DuBois Central Catholic
02/13 @ Clearfield
02/15 @ Bucktail