DUBOIS — It was a rare matinee opportunity for the Curwensville Golden Tide, but also one that head coach Josh Tkacik welcomed earlier in the week, as his squad loaded up the bus for a trip to DuBois for a battle against the DuBois Central Catholic Cardinals. The 2:30 p.m. tip-off was different, but the preparation was exactly the same.
At the end of the afternoon, what ultimately won the game was consistency. The Tide had the consistency most of the game, but lost it late. By contrast, the Cardinals stayed consistent for 32 minutes, enabling the home squad to hand Curwensville a 62-50 loss.
Both teams were evenly matched throughout the game, as the Tide and Cardinals would go shot-for-shot in the first eight minutes. Curwensville held a slight advantage after one quarter, but DuBois Central was not intending to have that remain. The second quarter saw them rally back, as they would outscore Curwensville, taking a 30-28 lead into the locker room.
Curwensville still was not out of it, and continued to run hard through the third quarter, but found themselves still down by three.
The fourth quarter, the Cardinals put the game away. As has been a tough characteristic to overcome, Curwensville fell flat in the final eight minutes, as the Cardinals outscored the Tide 16-7, cruising to the victory.
Andrew Green led all scoring, bucketing 19 points for the Cardinals in the win. Merek Hoyt and Bradyen Fox each accounted for 13 points, with Johnny Varischetti adding in another 11. For Curwensville, Hunter Tkacik bucketed 14 points, with Parker Wood adding in 12, and Davis Fleming finishing with 10.
At 10-10, the Tide will finish out the regular season next week with back-to-back games on the road. Tuesday night they will make the short trip up the hill to face Clearfield, whom they lost to back on December 28, 58-43. Then Thursday night, they will finish out the schedule against Bucktail, a team they beat once prior, 68-56, back on December 21.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Curwensville 16 12 15 7 – 50
D.C. Catholic 14 16 16 16 – 62
Curwensville – 50
Trenton Best 0 0-0 0, Grant Swanson 0 0-0 0, Davis Fleming 4 1-4 10, Chandler English 1 1-2 3, Braden Holland 3 2-3 5, Hunter Tkacik 6 0-0 14, Parker Wood 5 2-4 12. TOTALS 19 6-13 50.
Dubois Central Catholic – 62
Johnny Varischetti 5 1-3 11, Brayden Fox 5 0-2 13, Merek Hoyt 6 1-1 13, Xavier Schwantner 1 0-0 2, Tristan Sedor 0 0-0 0, Andrew Green 9 1-6 19, Brayden Zatsick 0 0-0 0, Luke Fragle 1 2-2 4, Anthony Holdren 0 0-0 0, Marcus Hoover 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 26 5-14 62.
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 50 – 62 10 – 10
02/13 @ Clearfield
02/15 @ Bucktail
