CURWENSVILLE — The holiday break has come to a close for schools in the area. That means the students are back in class, extracurricular activities are once again in order, and for the Curwensville Golden Tide basketball team that means hitting the hardwood.
The first order of business for Matt Wassil and his team following the holiday break came in the form of hosting the Ridgway Elkers on Tuesday night.
Patton Hall saw the fans come out on the rainy night ready for action.
Sadly for the home crowd, the Tide were seemingly not ready to get back into the swing of the season. Wassil could be heard before the opening tip-off telling his team to get into a rhythm, as the Elkers would come out fast and make them work. True to form, the Elkers won the opening tip, and the Tide never could fight back. The fast start led to easy points for Ridgway, while uneasy play from Curwensville led to turnovers and missed opportunities. In the end, Curwensville’s mistakes cost them the victory, a 62-33 one-sided affair.
Ridgway took the opening possession to the basket on an easy layup for Neil McDonald. That led to an opening 10-0 run. The run came to a halt when Wassil called time out when the ball was trapped near the sidelines. Curwensville got on the board shortly after thanks to a pair of free throws by Chrisian Bakaysa. However, another minute and a half later, Wassil burned a second timeout as Ridgway added another pair of buckets.
At the end of one quarter, it was 18-7, but entering the second stanza Curwensville had possession.
Of the 32 minutes played, the second quarter was the best for the Tide. At one point, they fell behind 24-9, when Wassil called his third timeout of the game with less than a minute knocked off the clock. It seemed to spark his team as they would go on an 11-4 run to pull within eight points at 28-20. Yet Ridgway manged to hold on and gain a 12-point advantage heading into halftime.
Curwensville’s momentum achieved in the second quarter abruptly ended when the second half began, as McDonald, Andy Briler and Justin Kasmeirski all were hitting baskets when the opportunity came.
At the same time, the Tide were making ill-advised passes, and losing control of the ball on their side of the court. By game’s end, Curwensville turned the ball over 26 times, compared to just 11 for Ridgway. Those turnovers meant little opportunities to shoot, as Curwensville only shot 13-for-34 on the floor.
Kasmeirski and Briler paced the Elkers with 13 points a piece, with Kasmeirski having a team-high seven assists, while McDonald added in another 12 points along with a team-high eight rebounds.
By the end of the third quarter, the Elkers held Curwensville to only five points, shooting only 2-for-9, and extended their lead to 51-27, showing they had control of the game from the outset.
The Tide were paced by Avery Francisco with seven points, while both Josh Terry and Devan Barrett added six points a piece. Barrett had a game-high nine rebounds for the home team.
To start the night, the Elkers also took the junior varsity contest in a 30-25 final.
There’s no time to rest, because the Tide (1-4) are back on the court Wednesday evening once more in Patton Hall as they play host to Johnsonburg.
SCORE BY QUARTER
Ridgway 18 16 17 11 – 62
Curwensville 7 15 5 6 – 33
Ridgway – 62
Smith 1 3-4 5, Jordan 3 0-1 7, Hinton 0 0-0 0, Wickett 1 0-1 2, Ames 3 0-0 6, Thorwart 1 2-2 4, McDonald 6 0-0 12, Aldretto 0 0-0 0, Briler 6 1-2 13, Kasmeirski 5 3-3 13. TOTALS 26 9-13 62.
Curwensville – 33
Terry 3 0-1 6, Bloom 1 0-0 3, Barrett 3 0-0 6, VonGunden 1 0-0 2, Danko 0 0-0 0, Bakaysa 0 4-4 4, Marshall 2 1-2 5, Francisco 3 1-2 7, Moore 0 0-1 0. TOTALS 13 6-10 33.
GAME STATISTICS
Ridgway/Curwensville
Shooting: 26-53/13-34
Rebounds: 24/20
Turnovers: 11/25
Fouls: 14/17
Three-Point Baskets: Jordan/Bloom
Golden Tide Scoreboard:
Date | Opponent | Score | Record |
12/09 | CLEARFIELD | 38 – 81 | 0 – 1 |
12/12 | @ West Branch | 57 – 72 | 0 – 2 |
12/16 | MO VALLEY | 25 – 57 | 0 – 3 |
12/21 | GLENDALE | 60 – 54 | 1 – 3 |
01/03 | RIDGWAY | 33 – 62 | 1 – 4 |
01/04 | JOHNSONBURG | ||
01/06 | @ Brockway | ||
01/10 | @ DuBois Central | ||
01/11 | @ Mo Valley | ||
01/13 | HARMONY | ||
01/17 | ELK COUNTY CATHOLIC | ||
01/18 | WEST BRANCH | ||
01/20 | @ Kane | ||
01/24 | @ Ridgway | ||
01/27 | BROCKWAY | ||
01/30 | KANE | ||
01/31 | @ Harmony | ||
02/01 | @ Glendale | ||
02/03 | @ Johnsonburg | ||
02/06 | @ Clearfield | ||
02/07 | DUBOIS CENTRAL | ||
02/10 | SHEFFIELD |