CURWENSVILLE-After seeing their scheduled season-opener halted due to the nasty weather in the area this week, the Curwensville Golden Tide had to wait until Saturday afternoon to finally take to the hardwood for the 2024-2025 campaign. The one advantage for the Tide in their true season-opener against the Oswayo Valley Green Wave was they did not have to go anywhere except to their home floor inside Patton Hall.
What the fans got for the matinee treat was the Tide putting up a lot of points, despite having struggles in both gameplay and emotions, to take a 67-56 triumph to start the new year.
A game that was defined by high-scoring efforts on both sides saw the Tide hold onto an early-game lead following tip-off, jumping out to a 19-13 lead after eight minutes. At the same time, the Green Wave kept things close as they began to pull withing a couple possessions in the second quarter. What Curwensville saw most of during the opening half was trips to the foul line. In the first 16 minutes, the Tide only put eight shots in the net from the floor. At the same time, they were seeing the foul line quite often, as they were at the charity stripe 18 times in the first half, only missing five shots.
Davis Fleming saw most of the game at the foul line, as he went 11-for-14, part of his game-high 34 points. After two quarters, Curwensville kept a three-possession advantage.
However, the Green Wave would not go quietly as they tried chipping away in the second half, which could be summed up in being a physical contest.
Between the two schools, a total of 40 fouls were called, but the majority came from the home squad. In fact, Curwensville’s play in the second half was not only physical, but it became emotional, and at moments officials had to calm things down. The Tide committed three technical fouls in the game, one each by Fleming, Chandler English and Evan McCartney. Head coach Josh Tkacik, in his third year as the leader of the Golden Tide cagers, spoke briefly about the fouls and the technical calls.
“It’s the first game, but we absolutely cannot let things like that happen,” he said. The three technical fouls not only gave Oswayo Valley an opportunity at six points, but also gave them possession at each turn.
The Green Wave won the final quarter, 22-20, but were too far behind to make a go at a comeback after going down 13 heading into the fourth.
For the Tide, McCartney also made it into double figures with 13 points. Oswayo Valley had a trio in double-digit scoring with Dawson Welch (24), Landon Flurschutz (12), and Ridge Mesler (10).
Curwensville (1-0) will be back on the road this coming Tuesday when they face Williamsburg.
NOTE: The original season-opener against St. Joseph’s Academy has been tentatively rescheduled for Monday, December 23.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Oswayo Valley 13 12 9 22 – 56
Curwensville 19 15 13 20 – 67
Oswayo Valley – 56
Dawson Welch 6 8-9 24, Landon Flurschutz 5 0-1 12, Hunter Worthington 0 0-0 0, Sage McCleaft 0 0-0 0, Ridge Mesler 5 0-1 10, Isaiah Goode 0 1-2 1, Connor Resig 1 3-6 5, Owen Bryant 1 2-6 4, Isaac Vincent 0 0-0 0, Landon Doane 0 0-0 0, Luke Karr 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 18 14-22 56.
Curwensville – 67
Owen Dimmick 0 0-0 0, Trenton Best 2 3-4 9, Evan McCartney 4 1-4 13, Davis Fleming 10 11-14 34, Chandler English 2 0-0 5, Tristan Wills 0 0-0 0, Hunter Tkacik 1 1-2 3, Breck Finn 1 0-0 3, Tuck Tkacik 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 20 16-24 67.
GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD
Date-Opponent Score Record
- 12/4-at St Joseph’s Academy PPD 0-0
- 12/7-OSWAYO VALLEY 67-56 1-0
- 12/10-at Williamsburg
- 12/13-at Juniata Valley
- 12/16-at Claysburg-Kimmel
- 12/18-MOSHANNON VALLEY
- 12/20-at Glendale
- 12/23-at St. Joseph’s Academy
- 12/27-at Clearfield
- 1/3-at Keystone
- 1/7-at West Branch
- 1/10-at Harmony
- 1/13-WILLIAMSBURG
- 1/17-MOUNT UNION
- 1/21-JUNIATA VALLEY
- 1/24-GLENDALE
- 1/28-DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC
- 1/31-WEST BRANCH
- 2/4-at Moshannon Valley
- 2/6-at Marion Center
- 2/7-HARMONY
- 2/10-at Oswayo Valley
- 2/12-CLEARFIELD
