Bucktail opens season with 56-34 win over Curwensville

By Bees O’Brien

CLAYBURG- Bucktail is only one game into the 2025-26 season and they’ve already found themselves in a championship game.

The Bucks used lockdown defense and three players scoring in double figures to down 2A Curwensville 56-34.

Bucktail opened the game on an 8-0 run, but the Golden Tide rallied on a 5-0 spurt, forcing Bucktail head coach Travis Fantaskey to burn a timeout.

“I just told them to tighten up and move faster.” said Fantaskey “We switched defenses a lot and they (Curwensville) weren’t sure what to do offensively.”

The advice worked. Gavin Pick drilled a three pointer off of the timeout and an Aidan Ditty blocked shot on the next trip down the court had the Bucks off and running.

Bucktail closed out the first quarter with a 7-2 advantage to hold a 15-7 lead after one quarter.

Teagan Stone dropped six points and Ditty added 5 in the second quarter as the Bucks began to pull away from the Golden Tide. Another 15-7 frame in the second quarter extended the Bucks lead to 30-14 at the break.

Pick began to take over in the third quarter. The Bucks’ junior scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the frame to help the Bucks keep Curwensville at bay. Bucktail once again netted 15 points, while the Golden Tide felt the loss of graduated guard Davis Fleming’s offense and added just 10 points.

Curwensville added 10 more in the fourth quarter, but Bucktail’s 11 points were enough for the 56-34 win.

Stone added 13 points, while Aidan Ditty finished with 11 points. Freshman Corbin Pentz netted 6 points in his varsity debut. Fellow freshman Landon Charcalla dropped in 5 points. Bucktail’s loaded freshman roster also seen Otis Emerick chip in two points.

The Bucks forced 19 turnovers, while only giving away single digit turnovers.

Now 1-0, Bucktail will next be in action on Saturday in the title game of the Claysburg-Kimmel Tip-Off Tournament when they meet either the host Bulldogs or Portage.

Curwensville7 7 10 10 34

Bucktail15 15 15 11 56

Curwensville (34)

B. Dimmick 4 0-0  11, L. Tkicik 0 3-6  3, McCartney 4 0-0  11, T. Tkicik 2 4-4  9, TOTALS 10 7-10 34

3FG- 7 (Dimmick 3, McCartney 3, Tkicik)

Bucktail (56)

Pick 8 0-0  19, A. Ditty 5 0-2  11, Stone 6 1-2  13, Pentz 2 2-4  6, Mansfield 0 0-0  0, J. Ditty 0 0-0  0, Barnes 0 0-0  0, Graw 0 0-0  0, Charcalla 1 2-2  5, Emerick 1 0-0  2, 23 5-10  56

3FG- 5 (Pick 3, A. Ditty, Charcalla)