DUBOIS – Defeating one team three times in a season can be a difficult task for some teams, but not for the Dubois Central Catholic (DCC) boys basketball squad. The Cardinals, playing at home, stayed very focused Thursday night as they knocked off the Curwensville Golden Tide in the first round of the PIAA District 9 “A” playoffs, 60-48.
The number three seeded Cardinals now will face Cameron County, seeded number six, on Saturday. Cameron County beat Clarion-Limestone Thursday night 90-60 to advance to the district quarterfinals against the Cardinals.
The Tide did all they could to hang with DCC but couldn’t overcome the ten three-pointers pumped in by their hosts. Tide head coach Matt Wassil, in his third year, was very pleased and happy with his team\’s effort, “I thought we played extremely hard against a very good opponent in DuBois Central. Our kids deserve a lot of credit for truly believing they could win against this team after having lost the previous two.” Curwensville lost earlier this year to DCC, 85-50 and 78-63.
The Cardinals jumped out to a quick seven point margin after one period of play, 19-12 and slowly increased the bulge to ten at the half with a 32-22 edge.
Curwensville stayed right with the boys from DuBois Central in the second half as they were only outscored by a 28-26 margin. However, the first half lead built by DCC was just too much for the Tide to overcome in the final sixteen minutes as they finished the season at 10-14.
DuBois Central senior guard, Christian Spilman, lead all scorers with 19. Michael Hassan with 14 and Dom Varacallo with 12 rounded out the top point makers for the Cardinals. The Tide were paced by Ben McGary and his 15, while David Kalgren tossed in 11 for Curwensville.
Coach Wassil found positives on the year, stating, “We feel we have something to build on for next year and after. Of course we have things we must work on in the off season and try to improve on, but we are solid in some areas.”
The Curwensville coach also took time to praise his two seniors on this year’s team when he mentioned, “I would like to congratulate and thank our seniors, Ryan Gardner and Joey Palmer for their effort and contribution. Not only this year, but over the course of their entire careers. Their spirit and leadership will be missed.”
CURWENSVILLE – 48 David Kalgren 5 1-4 11, Ryan Gardner 3 0-0 7, Ben McGary 4 5-6 15, Joey Palmer 2 1-2 5, Derek Dixon 1 2-2 4, Sam Gardner 3 0-0 6, Jed Greslick 0 0-0 0, Tyler Johns 0 0-0 0. TOTALS – 18 9-14 48
DUBOIS CENTRAL – 60 Christian Spilman 8 0-0 19, Dom Varacallo 4 0-0 12, Michael Hassan 5 2-2 14, Max Moclock 0 0-2 0, Matt Pentz 0 0-2 0, John Ferraraccio 3 0-0 6, Kelcy Gulvas 0 0-0 0, Will Gangewere 1 0-0 3, Chris Marshall 2 0-2 4, Taylor Pentz 0 2-2 2. TOTALS – 23 4-10 60
THREE-POINTERS: CURWENSVILLE – 3, McGary 2, R. Gardner 1. DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC – 10, Varacallo 4, Spilman 3, Hassan 2, Gangewere 1.
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
CURWENSVILLE 12 10 13 13 48
DUBOIS CENTRAL CATHOLIC 19 13 16 12 60
