On Friday, January 31, the West Branch Warrior basketball team traveled to Curwensville to take on the Golden Tide. The Warriors came into the game 17-2, and the Tide, 5-11.

The first quarter was a slugfest, with each team trading buckets back and forth. Lukas Colton had two big three-pointers in the quarter. With about 12 seconds left, a Colton defensive rebound led to an Owen Koleno layup. Then, Coby Kephart stole the Tide’s inbound pass and made the buzzer-beater to put the Warriors up 24-18.

The second quarter started hot for the Warriors, with Logan Liptak getting a steal and fast-break layup on the opening possession. After another Liptak bucket, the Warriors got two free throws for a technical foul on the Tide. After seven straight points from Koleno, back-to-back blocks from Colton and Joel Evans held the Tide at bay, going into the half 43-31.

The third quarter was more of the same, with two Koleno scores to start the half. After some time, an Easton Emigh steal led to an and-one layup, which put the Warriors up 56-42. Heading into the fourth, the Golden Tide started to mount a comeback. The Tide made a few threes to keep hope alive, but it was ultimately too little, too late. The Warriors ended up taking the victory, 75-68.

Koleno finished the night with 31 points, while Evans and Emigh scored 13 and 12, respectively. Emigh and Colton also combined for nine steals on the night.

Coby Kephart commented on the Warriors’ momentum going into the postseason: “We are in a really good position heading into the postseason. We are getting used to playing with each other and becoming more and more successful with the group we have. It’s great to see everyone coming together, and we have a lot of guys stepping up, too. We just have to keep working hard each and every day at practice and focus on the main goal.”

The Warriors (19-2) are back in action on Saturday, February 8, to take on the Brookville Raiders (10-6).