Dominant Second Quarter Propels P-O Past Curwensville Cagers

PHILIPSBURG — After a delay of one day, it was tournament time for the Curwensville Golden Tide basketball squad, who only had been on the court four times in the month of December. The lack of playing time was not an issue, as the Tide held a .500 record as they came into the Philipsburg Holiday Tournament inside the Mountie Gymnasium on Wednesday. The tournament was slated to start on Tuesday, but all activity got shifted one day, giving all participating teams an extra day to prepare. That was big, because the Tide had the task of taking on the hosting Philipsburg-Osceola Mounties, who came in with only one win on their record.

What happened on this night was one team putting on a full-throttle performance, and it was not the visiting squad. Curwensville kept it close early on, but the Mounties turned up the wick to give the Tide a 74-44 loss.

Things were decent for the Tide to start the night as Dan McGarry and Andrew Wassil would account for the opening quarter scoring for the team clad in white. But, the Mounties would match and then some, as Oliver Harpster and Jacob DeSimone combined for 12 of P-O’s 14 first-quarter points.

It was the second quarter when the Mounties put the game away.

Harpster would go on a tear, putting up four of his game-high six trey’s in the quarter, plus going 4-for-4 at the free throw line. Nick Johnson would add in another eight points, and suddenly a one-possession lead for the Mounties suddenly became a 40-25 halftime advantage.

Curwensville would not be able to make any headway after that, as they would struggle in the second half. McGarry’s 10-point effort would pace the Tide, but it was not enough as turnovers and the fast-paced offense of P-O limited opportunities.

For the Mounties, a trio of players hit double-digits, as Harpster led all scoring with a 30-point effort. Johnson accounted for 17, while DeSimone put up 11 for the host squad.

Curwensville (2-3) moves into the consolation game on Thursday evening.

SCORE BY QUARTER

Curwensville 11 14 8 11 – 44
Philipsburg-Osceola 14 26 17 17 – 74

Curwensville – 44

Andrew Wassil 2 0-0 5, Louis Tkacik 0 0-0 0, Dan McGarry 4 2-2 10, Grant Swanson 1 0-0 2, Davis Fleming 3 0-0 7, Chandler English 2 1-2 5, Braden Holland 1 0-0 2, Hunter Tkacik 2 1-1 5, Ty Colton 1 0-0 2, Parker Wood 3 0-0 6, Ayden Sutika 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 19 4-5 44.

Philipsburg-Osceola – 74

Oliver Harpster 10 4-5 30, Jacob DeSimone 4 4-4 12, Nick Johnson 6 5-6 17, Camden Mason 2 0-0 4, Lucas Peterson 0 0-0 0, Brandon Hahn 2 3-4 7, Zack Meyers 0 0-1 0, Parker Lamb 0 2-2 2, Matier 1 0-0 2. TOTALS 25 18-22 74.