CURWENSVILLE — The first time the Curwensville boys basketball team faced West Branch this season, the Golden Tide suffered a 30-point loss.
But Friday evening in front of a large crowd in a vocal Patton Hall, Curwensville gave the twice-beaten Warriors all they could handle, rallying from as much as a 15-point deficit before ultimately falling by a 75-68 score.
Golden Tide seniors Chandler English and Davis Fleming each had big games — English with a team-high 20 points and nine rebounds and Fleming flirting with a triple double with 14 points, and an unofficial nine rebounds and nine assists.
But Warrior sharpshooter Owen Koleno poured in 31, while his teammates Joel Evans (13) and Easton Emigh (12) each hit double-digits to keep West Branch in front by at least six points once it took a 24-18 lead at the end of the first quarter.
“I told them in the locker room that they have absolutely no reason whatsoever to hang their heads. They gave it everything that had,” Curwensville head coach Josh Tkacik said. “Execution-wise over the course of the game, we were able to make on-court adjustments. We obviously made adjustments on the sideline and in the locker room, but the five on the floor were able to see things that were working and they continued to grind and try to capitalize on it.
“It’s a testimony to West Branch that they had the lead. We chopped back into it and we just ran out of game clock. West Branch is a really great team, but I think we demonstrated tonight that we’re no slouch when we’re all working together as one on the floor.”
Curwensville scored the first two points of the game when Fleming’s opening 3-point attempt fell short of the basket, but went right to Hunter Tkacik, who put the ball off glass and into the net for a 2-0 lead.
The teams battled through several lead changes the rest of the frame before the Warriors went on a 7-0 run to end a first quarter that was capped by Coby Kephart’s steal of an inbounds pass and quick buzzer-beating shot that gave West Branch a 24-18 edge.
Koleno netted nine points for the Warriors in the frame, while Lukas Colton drilled a pair of 3-pointers to help the visitors claim a lead they never relinquished after the first.
West Branch was able to extend the advantage to double figures in the second as Koleno had three more buckets and went 5-for-5 from the charity stripe to net 11 in the stanza and lead the Warriors to a 43-31 lead at the break.
“Owen is the most efficient post player that we’ve seen in a long time.” Tkacik said. “He knows how to use his body. He knows how to use ball fakes and head fakes. He gets those little and 1s and he runs the floor well.”
Tuck Tkacik did his best to keep the Golden Tide close with six points in the quarter, four coming off offensive boards. Tkacik ended the night with 13 points and five rebounds — four of them on the offensive glass.

Curwensville cut its deficit back to single digits in the third, but the Warriors were able to withstand the rally and take the advantage back to 13 (58-45) by quarter’s end.
But the Golden Tide again fought back, getting six straight points from English to start the fourth as Curwensville clawed right back in the game at 58-51.
After a Warrior timeout and empty possessions from each team, Emigh hit a layup along the baseline, was fouled and converted the free throw to halt the Tide momentum and put the Warriors back on top by 10 (61-51).
Fleming responded by drilling a three from the top of the key, but West Branch came right back down the court and got a layup from Koleno off a nice bounce pass from Evans.
After an English bucket made it 63-56, the well went dry for both teams, each coming up empty on two possessions before Warrior head coach Danny Clark took a timeout.
Emigh scored four straight out of the timeout, the second basket coming off a steal and layup to give the Warriors a 67-56 advantage.
But Curwensville’s Trenton Best, who scored 12 points in the game, drilled a three to answer.
That was followed by Evans field goals on consecutive possessions to make it a 71-59 Warrior lead with less than two minutes to play.
Best splashed down two more 3s down the stretch and English hit one, but Koleno had a pair of layups in between to keep West Branch always in front by at least three possessions until the end.
“You can go up and down the lineup from Trenton Best stepping up and knocking down some 3s that we needed him to make,” Coach Tkacik said. “I thought Chander English played the best game, maybe of his life, up and down the floor. Tuck was a nice complimentary piece in there as well. He played physical and didn’t back down.

“But anyone who saw minutes tonight I can’t help but to commend their effort. Breck Finn stepped up and guarded a senior as a freshman. It just goes all the way up and down the line. And Davis was Davis. He’s smart. He drew those fouls on two threes, getting that leg kick. Those are high IQ basketball plays. And there’s a reason why he is the all-time assist leader in the school’s history. He understands where the ball needs to go and more times than not it gets there.”
West Branch improved to 18-2 overall and remained unbeaten in the ICC at 11-0. Of the Warriors 18 wins, 16 have been by 13 or more points as only Williamsburg and the Tide stayed within single digits in a loss.
Curwensville slipped to 5-11 and will need a big finish to make the postseason. The final push starts Saturday at St. Joseph’s Academy.
“We have six games left and what I can say is St. Joe’s is where we’re focused now,” Tkacik said. “But we also understand time is not on our side. But our focus is on St. Joe’s and we’ll go from there.”
West Branch—75
Lukas Colton 3 0-0 8, Easton Emigh 5 2-6 12, Logan Liptak 2 0-0 4, Joel Evans 6 1-1 13, Owen Koleno 12 7-11 31, Coby Kephat 2 0-0 5, Evan Emigh 1 0-0 2. Totals: 31 10-18 75.
Curwensville—68
Tuck Tkacik 6 1-1 13, Evan McCartney 2 0-0 5, Hunter Tkacik 1 0-2 2, Chandler English 8 3-6 20, Davis Fleming 4 4-6 14, Trenton Best 4 0-0 12, Breck Finn 1 0-2 2. Totals: 26 8-15 68.
Three-pointers: West Branch 3 (Colton 2, Kephart); Curwensville 8 (Best 4, McCartney, Fleming 3, English).
Score By Quarters
West Branch 24 19 15 17—75
Curwensville 18 13 14 23—68
GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD:
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 64 – 62 2 – 4
12/27 @ Clearfield 62 – 72 2 – 5
01/03 @ Keystone ppd. 2 – 5
01/07 @ West Branch 54 – 84 2 – 6
01/10 @ Harmony 60 – 45 3 – 6
01/13 WILLIAMSBURG 75 – 68 ot 4 – 6
01/17 MT. UNION 57 – 66 4 – 7
01/21 JUNIATA VALLEY ppd. 4 – 7
01/23 JUNIATA VALLEY 76 – 85 4 – 8
01/24 GLENDALE 65 – 38 5 – 8
01/28 DUBOIS CENTRAL 44 – 65 5 – 9
01/29 @ Keystone 38 – 70 5 – 10
01/31 WEST BRANCH 68 – 75 5 – 11
02/01 @ St. Joseph’s Catholic
02/04 @ Moshannon Valley
02/06 @ Marion Center
02/07 HARMONY
02/10 @ Oswayo Valley
02/12 CLEARFIELD