CURWENSVILLE — At the sound of the final buzzer on Wednesday night, Curwensville head coach Josh Tkacik could be seen with a look of wonder. After shaking hands with the opposing Moshannon Valley Black Knights, he looked up at the scoreboard, as though he was staring at a wall. His Curwensville Golden Tide cagers went into battle inside Patton Hall and pushed hard, early and often.
Yet, at some moments, the simplest of things did not fall their way. Missed easy shots, missed rebounds, turnovers, and execution, all led to a 55-50 loss that easily could have gone the other way.
“When you look at the box score, when your opponent only scores 22 points (at halftime), you’re feeling good. But, we left too many points on the rim, and then that led us into doing too much as the game went on,” Tkacik said afterward. “We should have settled into the rhythm of the game, and before long, the clock struck zero. Those missed opportunities cost us late in the game.
“We had too many forced shots, trying to be too stylish, rather than make the simple play. All those are missed opportunities.”
The game was a slow pace to start as the two squads combined for just 14 points in the opening quarter, with Curwensville holding the one-possession advantage 8-6. While Curwensville left points off the board in the paint, by contrast when the opportunity for Moshannon Valley presented to get points at the foul line, they could not execute. The Black Knights only went 10-for-21 at the line, but when they weren’t getting points for free, they capitalized when Curwensville couldn’t get points on offense.
A two-point deficit in the opening quarter quickly got to be a two-possession game in the second quarter. But, Curwensville did not quit, and a last-second trey from Davis Fleming put the Tide down just one basket, 22-20, heading into the locker room.
Moshannon Valley, even with a big lead at certain points in the second quarter, was only 10-for-34 in the first half. But, the squad made the shots when necessary in the later stages. Both Kaden Kephart and Bo Washall were kept in check for the first half, but they found a groove in the final 16 minutes. Washall went 5-for-5 from the floor when the opportunity presented itself, and 2-for-2 at the line, to finish with a team-high 16 points. Kephart finished with 14 points, but came through with a pair of big steals and assists to his teammates when the need presented.
The Golden Tide struggled to get to the basket, as Tkacik described, in the second half as the Black Knight defense forced turnovers, plus low-percentage shots, which caused Curwensville to rush their possessions, and forced them to play quicker than they would prefer.
“In these close games, it comes down to execution. Moshannon Valley ran a 1-3-1 zone, nothing abnormal, and it came down to us executing and getting a shot we really wanted,” Tkacik said.
Curwensville managed to pull within a possession in the final quarter, as Fleming and Chandler English found some penetration and put up big shots when needed. Fleming finished with a game-high 19 points, part of a double-double effort as he pulled down 10 rebounds, but also struggled at the foul line, finishing 5-for-8. English also had struggles at the line, finishing 4-for-10, while adding in another 14 points. Curwensville missed foul shots at big times, starting with a technical foul call against Kaden Mills, as Fleming had both shots bounce off the rim.
Tkacik took in all the things that came in the game, and summed it up very simple, but very pronounced.
“The little things matter. The little behaviors, multiplied over the course of the game, yield big results,” he said. “Those little things we do every day, multiplied over time, yield bigger results. We, as a team, need to be more mindful and conscientious that those little decisions…matter.
“We will move on, learn from it, and be ready for the next one.”
Curwensville also dropped the junior varsity contest, 62-23, in a game that saw the running clock through the latter part of the second half.
The Golden Tide (1-4) have seen the last of Patton Hall for the 2024 calendar year, as they will have a stretch of six games away from Curwensville beginning on Friday against Glendale, and almost immediately, Tkacik was looking ahead on what to do to prepare, while also being mindful of what happened on the home hardwood.
“We got to get back to work, learn from this, and be ready for Friday night. I can almost say for certain, that team in Clinton County, they will get word of Mo Valley beating us, and they are just chomping at the bit ready to pounce.
“For us, we have to learn from tonight, and take care of business come Friday.”
Tip-off in Glendale for the Golden Tide and the Vikings is tentatively set for 7 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Moshannon Valley 6 16 16 17 – 55
Curwensville 8 13 12 17 – 50
Moshannon Valley – 55
Kaden Kephart 6 2-7 14, Kaden Mills 2 4-4 9, Jensen Hansel 3 1-2 9, Zach Reifer 0 0-2 0, Kyle Merrick 0 0-0 0, Troy Canner 1 1-2 3, Carter Weakland 2 0-2 4, Bo Washall 7 2-2 16. TOTALS 21 10-21 55.
Curwensville – 50
Trenton Best 1 0-0 3, Evan McCartney 0 0-0 0, Davis Fleming 5 5-8 19, Chandler English 4 4-10 14, Hunter Tkacik 3 0-0 6, Tuck Tkacik 2 2-2 6, Owen Dimmick 0 0-0 0, Brock Finn 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 16 11-20 50.
GAME STATISTICS
Moshannon Valley/Curwensville
- Shooting: 21-60/16-60
- Rebounds: 32/36
- Fouls: 16/18
- Turnovers: 12/17
- Three-Point Shots: Mills, Hansel-2/Best, Fleming-4
- Technical Fouls: Mills/H. Tkacik
- Official Warning: Fleming-3:28 in 2nd (Flopping)
GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD:
Date Opponent Score Record
12/04 @ St. Joseph’s Catholic ppd. 0 – 0
12/07 OSWAYO VALLEY 67 – 56 1 – 0
12/10 @ Williamsburg 49 – 59 1 – 1
12/13 @ Juniata Valley 64 – 85 1 – 2
12/16 @ Claysburg-Kimmel 66 – 70 1 – 3
12/18 MOSHANNON VALLEY 50 – 55 1 – 4
12/20 @ Glendale
12/23 @ St. Joseph’s Catholic
12/27 @ Clearfield
01/03 @ Keystone
01/07 @ West Branch
01/10 @ Harmony
01/13 WILLIAMSBURG
01/17 MT. UNION
01/21 JUNIATA VALLEY
01/24 GLENDALE
01/28 DUBOIS CENTRAL
01/31 WEST BRANCH
02/04 @ Moshannon Valley
02/06 @ Marion Center
02/07 HARMONY
02/10 @ Oswayo Valley
