CURWENSVILLE — Having a week away from true competition is tough on any high school team during the winter season. School closures mean no ability to practice, or go over game preparations. The Curwensville Golden Tide have experienced this in a hard way in the last month, as the last time they were on the hardwood was on January 11 against Moshannon Valley. The weather in the last week caused two postponements, which often makes it difficult to get into game mode when the next one is so far away. Finally, after 12 days, Curwensville took to the home hardwood against the Juniata Valley Hornets inside Patton Hall.
It did not look like they had not played a game in nearly two weeks, as Curwensville came out strong, battling tough and making it challenging early on. Juniata Valley answered back and kept the game tight. The back and forth battle went into the second half, where the Hornets stung hard with a lot of key transitions that led to points, handing Curwensville an 86-75 loss that either team could have ultimately won.
“We came out playing really well, aggressive, energy was up, and making great decisions,” Curwensville head coach Josh Tkacik said afterwards. “Then, we kinda lost our composure, Juniata Valley got on a run, and especially when you’re playing a team with senior leadership and great coaching, those teams will absorb that then push back. Basketball is a game of runs, and in games like this where it can be either team at any point, those are the ones we have to learn to win.”
Curwensville made it difficult as the two teams exchanged buckets often in the opening eight minutes, with neither getting out to more than a two-possession gap for any long length of time. Curwensville’s starting five would keep an even run in the opening frame, taking a 21-13 lead after eight minutes.
All of a sudden, the second quarter was a shift, as the Hornets suddenly roared to a 7-2 run to cut the lead to a single possession. Tkacik called a timeout to settle his team down, and for the remaining of the quarter they would keep a tight hold on the Hornets. Juniata Valley pushed out to a 34-27 lead with under a minute remaining, but Curwensville would not go down as a couple takeaways led to Grant Swanson, Davis Fleming and Braden Holland each getting buckets to cut the lead to a single point with mere seconds left. As the ball was inbound after Holland’s layup, Charlie Mattas threw up a last-gasp heave from his own foul line. Somehow, he found the right arc, and as if the shot came from Steph Curry himself, the ball hit nothing but net, giving the visitors a 37-33 halftime lead that stunned the entire crowd.
“We were sitting pretty high at the end of the first quarter, and even after the first half. We made a couple buckets right at the end of the second quarter, then (Mattas) pulled that prayer shot out of his hind end that went in,” Tkacik said. “Up till that point, we did feel the momentum swing, and when we came out for the second half it was still there. Our mistakes were just more than theirs tonight.”
The second half for the Golden Tide belonged to the leadership of Fleming, as he was not only making shots that were going in, but when he was not getting shots, he was feeding his teammates so they could get the better looks. He finished with a double-double stat line, including a game-high 32 points plus 10 assists.
“Davis works hard at his trade, and is trying to get guys involved. He’s realizing the more pieces the opponent has to defend, that opens things up for everybody. I don’t know if he started to do too much, or if we weren’t doing enough to reciprocate,” Tkacik said. “Our offensive possessions, we had a mismatch with him. Davis could beat Mattas every time in isolation, as he could not guard him.
“I thought we also had great interior passes to Parker, and we kept going back to that, yet Juniata Valley adjusted to that.”
Fleming was joined in double figures by Wood, who accounted for 21 points, and Holland, who had 14. The momentum found in the second quarter continued through the third, as Curwensville was only down eight with one quarter to play. They would spend the final quarter battling tight, but the Hornets kept meeting the output, finding gaps and not taking unnecessary shots. Mattas would capitalize the most, finishing with 26 points, plus eight rebounds and six assists.
Four Hornets hit double figures, with Chris Deihl (22), Connor Robison (21) and Jett Rand (10) all joining Mattas on the stat line.
Even with that scoring, the Golden Tide would not quit, keeping things interesting deep into the game, and it was something that Tkacik took notice of, even with the loss.
“Win or loss, there’s lessons to learn. Like tonight, there was 1:08 left in the game, and we’re down by eight. There’s still a lot of basketball to play in 68 seconds, yet we got ourselves into foul trouble,” he said. “We likely would have got in foul trouble anyway because of the style we were playing, but that was putting them on the foul line, and that’s what got them the lead.
“The takeaway tonight is understanding not to panic, and understanding that if we don’t get a particular call our way, to put it behind us and go to the next play. Whether transitioning on defense, setting up offense.”
In the latter stages, both Hunter Tkacik and Louie Tkacik would head to the sidelines after picking up five fouls. The team would force Juniata Valley to the line ten times in the final quarter, and only three shots would be missed. It was enough to put the final deficit into double figures, as Juniata Valley finished 13-for-17 at the charity stripe.
Sitting at 8-5, Curwensville has a short rest before they head on the road on Thursday night, as they will make up one of the games that was postponed from the week earlier. The opposition will be the Williamsburg Blue Pirates, a team that the Tide are familiar with as they faced one another back on December 11. On that night, the Blue Pirates gave the Tide their first loss on the year, 63-53.
“Williamsburg is going to be another great 50-50 game. We had them here earlier in the year, and you were here for that one. We did not shoot the ball well at all that night,” Tkacik said. “We’ve been eager to see those guys again, because we truly believe that we can beat them.
“I know for sure, I’m eager for practice come tomorrow.”
The two squads will face off with tip-off slated at 6 p.m. for junior varsity. The varsity contest will follow at approximately 7:15 p.m.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Juniata Valley 13 24 24 25 – 86
Curwensville 21 12 22 20 – 75
Juniata Valley – 86
Chris Deihl 10 0-0 22, Connor Robison 7 7-8 21, Ronal Chavez 1 0-0 2, Jett Rand 4 1-2 10, Charlie Mattas 9 5-7 26, Kendon Beck 0 0-0 0, Laken Cook 2 0-0 5, Joel LeCrane 0 0-0 0, Trenton Norris 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 33 13-17 86.
Curwensville – 75
Evan McCartney 0 0-0 0, Grant Swanson 1 1-2 3, Davis Fleming 11 7-9 32, Braden Holland 6 2-2 14, Hunter Tkacik 1 0-0 2, Louie Tkacik 1 0-0 3, Parker Wood 10 0-0 21. TOTALS 30 10-13 75.
GAME STATISTICS
Juniata Valley/Curwensville
- Shooting: 33-66/30-68
- Rebounds: 32/24
- Fouls: 13/19
- Turnovers: 17/11
- Three-Point Shots: Deihl-2, Rand, Mattas-3, Cook/Fleming-3, L. Tkacik, Wood
- Foul Out: H. Tkacik, L. Tkacik
