The Curwensville boys basketball team has 15 players – six of them letterwinners – on the roster this season for head coach Josh Tkacik, who is entering his fourth year at the helm of the program.
Seniors Evan McCartney and Louie Tkacik, junior Owen Dimmick and sophomores Breck Finn and Tuck Tkacik are back as letterwinners and the blocks on which coach Tkacik hopes to build the team around.
Senior Tristan Wills is also a returning letterwinner, but has opted out of playing this season due to an injury. He will remain with the team as a manager.
“Each of them brings lots of game minutes under their belts,” coach Tkacik said of his letterwinners. “They have bought in and have established the bar of player expectations at practice. I have been happily impressed by their leap of maturity since last season as well.
“Their willingness to remain coachable makes walking into the gym fulfilling. For all the right reasons, none of them are the same player they were a season ago.”
Tkacik says a renewed commitment to his own values as a head coach has helped his group as they prepare for the season.
“I made the mistake in the past of allowing some of my values to be compromised; players have seen that is no longer the case in 2025,” he said. “I have learned my lesson as a young coach and vowed not to repeat it again. I believe these letterwinners see it and it fuels their competitive drive.”
The letterwinners will certainly see their share of minutes on the varsity floor, but a starting lineup has yet to be determined as plenty of other athletes are competing for roles.
“The starting lineup remains fluid and rotations are still being finalized,” Tkacik said. “Besides the letterwinners, senior Dante Lezzer, junior Brody Larson, sophomores Colby Proud and Tucker Johnson, and freshman Jaxx Peoples will see varsity minutes.
“Scoring and ball handling will be done by committee. In 2025, if you wear a Curwensville jersey you are expected to rebound and play team defense or you don’t see the varsity floor.”
Rebounding could be a challenge on some nights for the Tide, who lost three players with good size to graduation in Chandler English, Davis Fleming and Hunter Tkacik.
“Graduating three guys, each over 6’2”, in a small school is tough,” Tkacik said. “We will be undersized in length and height on most nights. Grittiness and technique are great equalizers.”
English, Fleming and Tkacik were also at the top of most statistical categories for the Tide last season.
Fleming, who graduated as Curwensville’s all-time points and assists leader, led the way in scoring (26.6 ppg.), assists (5.6) and steals (2.3) last season and was second in rebounding (7.6). English paced the Tide on the glass with 10 boards per contest and was second in scoring (10.6 ppg.) and assists (3.9). Hunter Tkacik was third in assists (2.4) and fourth in rebounding (4.2).
“I appreciated what each of them was willing to give to the program during their tenure at Curwensville and I am excited for Chandler, Davis, and Hunter’s futures,” Tkacik said. “We will communicate on a regular basis.”
Tuck Tkacik (6.8), McCartney (4.6) and Finn (3.7) are the top returning scorers, finishing last season 3-4-5 behind Fleming and English. Tkacik is also the top returning rebounder after pulling down 5.0 per game a season ago.
Louie Tkacik, who missed last season with an illness, averaged 3.7 ppg. and 2.9 rpg. during his sophomore campaign, which he played in 21 of the team’s 23 games.
The Tide will need those four and several others to step into more prolific roles as they look to replace the production lost to graduation.
While finding the right combination of players to give the Tide their best chance of success is still a work in progress, one thing Curwensville has in spades is team unity.
“This group genuinely cares about each other,” Tkacik said. “They joke with one another. They hang out outside of the gym. They train together. Some are hunting and fishing buddies. That level of trust in one another cannot be quantified on MaxPreps.”
That should help the Tide achieve the first of their three goals for the season –
Stay united. Be intentional about everything. Appreciate the process.
Curwensville is hoping to better its 6-15 record from last season as well as it competes in the Moshannon Valley League and Inter County Conference.
“I trust my coaching staff and there are no other players I would rather be competing with,” Tkacik said. “I am so proud of who they are as young men.”
The Golden Tide began the season Friday, Nov. 28 at the Claysburg-Kimmel Tip-Off Tournament. Curwensville plays Bucktail in the opener.
ROSTER
Seniors
Dante Lezzer, *Evan McCartney, *Louie Tkacik, *Tristan Wills.
Juniors
*Owen Dimmick, Brody Larson, Chris Peters.
Sophomores
*Breck Finn, Tucker Johnson, Kyle McCracken, Colby Proud, Brant Swatsworth, *Tuck Tkacik.
Freshmen
Jack Dimmick, Jaxx Peoples, Stephen Vigilante
*Letterwinners
GOLDEN TIDE SCHEDULE:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 11/28 | @ C-K Tournament | ||
| 11/28 | vs. Bucktail | ||
| 11/29 | @ C-K Tournament | ||
| 12/4 | @ Union Tournament | ||
| 12/5 | @ Union Tournament | ||
| 12/9 | @ Williamsburg | ||
| 12/12 | TUSSEY MOUNTAIN | ||
| 12/15 | @ Purchase Line | ||
| 12/17 | HARMONY | ||
| 12/19 | JUNIATA VALLEY | ||
| 12/23 | GLENDALE | ||
| 12/29 | CLEARFIELD | ||
| 1/5 | WEST BRANCH | ||
| 1/9 | @ Mo Valley | ||
| 1/13 | WILLIAMSBURG | ||
| 1/19 | @ Juniata Valley | ||
| 1/23 | @ Glendale | ||
| 1/27 | @ North Star | ||
| 1/30 | MO VALLEY | ||
| 2/2 | @ West Branch | ||
| 2/9 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | ||
| 2/12 | @ Harmony |
