CURWENSVILLE — The Curwensville boys basketball team struggled with the size advantage of visiting Moshannon Valley Wednesday at Patton Hall in a 51-34 loss to the Black Knights.
Mo Valley, which won the battle on the boards 30-23 in the game, built an early 15-4 advantage thanks in large part to hitting the offensive glass and getting second-chance opportunities and putbacks.
Bo Washell (6), Brennan Canner (5) and Kaden Mills (4) combined for 15 first-quarter points, many coming in the paint, to give Mo Valley a 20-7 advantage heading to the second.
“Hats off to Moshannon Valley. They have great size and you can’t train size,” Curwensville head coach Josh Tkacik said. “Those guys also understand how to use their size to their advantage, both in getting paint touches as well as hitting the glass.”
Curwensville was able to cut into the Knight lead some in the second quarter, getting 3s from Owen Dimmick and Colby Proud, but ultimately Mo Valley stretched the advantage to 31-15 by the break.
Evan McCartney hit a pair of 3-pointers in the third, but those were the only points the Tide could manage and Mo Valley surged to a 45-21 lead behind a 10-point effort from Mills in the frame. Mills led all players with 16 points.
Mo Valley pushed the lead to as many as 28, but Curwensville never wavered. The Tide won the fourth quarter 13-6, getting another 3 from Proud, buckets from Breck Finn and Jack Dimmick and hitting on 6-of-10 free throws.
“These kids play their guts out. They try,” coach Tkacik said. “When you’re 5-foot-10 and you are trying to body up on kids that are 6-2, 6-4, 6-7, that’s a tall order. But the kids try. They compete. Unfortunately this year for us, we’ve been stagnated in the half court offense.
“We run the floor well, we move the ball quickly in transition for the most part, but when we settle into our half court offense, that’s when things get really stale.”
McCartney led Curwensville with 10 points. Proud netted seven points to go with a team-high five rebounds. Owen Dimmick added six points.
With the win, Mo Valley (13-8) clinched the Moshannon Valley League title with a league mark of 7-1. It’s the first MVL title for the Knights since the 2016-17 season.
Curwensville dipped to 3-17 overall, 1-6 in the MVL and 1-9 in the Inter County Conference North.
The Tide get right back to it Thursday with their MVL finale at Harmony before ending the regular season at North Star on Friday.
“We’re getting to the end of the road here, and we just want to finish well,” Tkacik said.
Moshannon Valley—51
Jensen Hansel 4 2-2 12, Kaden Mills 8 0-0 16, Brennan Canner 2 1-4 5, Bo Washell 6 0-2 12, Carter Weakland 3 0-2 6, Valent Cervenak 0 0-0 0, Colby Reifer 0 0-0 0, Caleb Benjamin 0 0-0 0, Sam Taylor 0 0-0 0, Cole Tekely 0 0-0 0, Ian Dunsmore 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 3-10 51.
Curwensville—34
Owen Dimmick 2 0-0 6, Evan McCartney 3 2-2 10, Dante Lezzer 0 0-0 0, Breck Finn 2 0-0 4, Tuck Tkacik 0 1-2 1, Colby Proud 2 1-6 7, Stephen Vigilante 0 0-0 0, Tucker Johnson 0 0-0 0, Kyle McCracken 0 0-0 0, Jack Dimmick 1 2-2 4. Totals: 10 8-14 34.
Three-pointers: Mo Valley 2 (Hansel 2), Curwensville 6 (O. Dimmick 2, McCartney 2, Proud 2).
Score by Quarters
Moshannon Valley 20 11 14 6—51
Curwensville 7 8 6 13—34
GOLDEN TIDE SCOREBOARD:
| Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
| 11/28 | @ C-K Tournament | ||
| 11/28 | vs. Bucktail | 34 – 56 | 0 – 1 |
| 11/29 | @ C-K Tournament | ||
| 11.29 | vs. Portage | 36 – 53 | 0 – 2 |
| 12/4 | @ Union Tournament | ||
| 12/4 | vs. Union | 40 – 48 | 0 – 3 |
| 12/5 | @ Union Tournament | ||
| 12/5 | vs. Karns City | 29 – 67 | 0 – 4 |
| 12/9 | @ Williamsburg | 35 – 54 | 0 – 5 |
| 12/12 | TUSSEY MOUNTAIN | 30 – 26 | 1 – 5 |
| 12/15 | @ Purchase Line | ppd. | 1 – 5 |
| 12/17 | HARMONY | 44 – 67 | 1 – 6 |
| 12/19 | JUNIATA VALLEY | ppd. | 1 – 6 |
| 12/23 | GLENDALE | ppd. | 1 – 6 |
| 12/29 | CLEARFIELD | 31 – 56 | 1 – 7 |
| 1/5 | WEST BRANCH | 51 – 46 | 2 – 7 |
| 1/9 | @ Mo Valley | 43 – 57 | 2 – 8 |
| 1/10 | vs. Keystone (@ Clarion) | 39 – 70 | 2 – 9 |
| 1/13 | WILLIAMSBURG | 29 – 57 | 2 – 10 |
| 1/15 | JUNIATA VALLEY | 40 – 73 | 2 – 11 |
| 1/19 | @ Juniata Valley | 39 – 71 | 2 – 12 |
| 1/23 | @ Glendale | 37 – 48 | 2 – 13 |
| 1/27 | @ North Star | ppd. | 2 – 13 |
| 1/29 | GLENDALE | 40 – 42 | 2 – 14 |
| 1/30 | MO VALLEY | ppd. | 2 – 14 |
| 2/2 | @ West Branch | 33 – 64 | 2 – 15 |
| 2/3 | @ Purchase Line | 47 – 52 | 2 – 16 |
| 2/7 | @ North Star | ppd. | 2 – 16 |
| 2/9 | @ DuBois Central Catholic | 56 – 38 | 3 – 16 |
| 2/11 | MO VALLEY | 34-51 | 3 – 17 |
| 2/12 | @ Harmony | ||
| 2/13 | @ North Star |
