The junior fired home 21 of his team-high 26 points in the second half, including a decisive 3 with just under two minutes to play that would give the Gators (4-1) the cushion they needed to secure a 59-52 victory over the Trojans (5-2, 3-2).

That outside shot would put Allegany-Limestone up by 3, and Curran would add a finger roll in the lane and a pair of makes at the free-throw line to complete his night.

With some fans returning to the stands and first place on the line, Friday night’s contest included some of the more physical play thus far this year.

“It started a couple of years ago,” Southwestern coach Aaron Emley said of the rivalry. “We saw them in playoffs and I think it has just been building since. They came over into our league last year. You know night in and night out in our league you have to bring your best game because that is how it is going to be.”

Southwestern’s Calvin Ricker (13) looks to score in between Allegany-Limestone’s Andrew Giardini (2) and Hudson Kwiatkowski (13) during Friday’s CCAA Division 1 West game at Southwestern Central School. P-J photo by Valory S. Isaacson

Both teams would show themselves to be evenly matched throughout the night, with Southwestern holding a two-point lead after the opening quarter and a five-point lead at the half, while the Gators saw small leads of their own in the final two quarters.

“I thought the physical part of the game was brought to us the first half and coming out the second half the quick buckets helped,” Allegany-Limestone coach Glenn Anderson said. “I think we found some (shots) that we were comfortable with, we started taking advantage of the aggressive defense off the ball screen, hit the slip. Then we were able to play 3-on-2 downhill from there and really we just didn’t go away.”

The Trojans would open up their first-quarter lead with balanced scoring as Aidan Kennedy, Nate Johnson, Matt Pannes and Calvin Ricker all got on the scoreboard early with inside shots.

Kennedy would grab another bucket and a pair of makes at the free-throw line in the second quarter while Zishan Munir hit home for 3 to help Southwestern end the first half with a 21-16 lead as the physicality continued to rise.

“It was chippy,” Anderson said. “It was a battle for first place, that is expected. That is the nature of competition.”

A floater from Andrew Giardini and a putback by Hudson Kwiatkowski would bring things back to even early in the third quarter, and the Gators would secure a lead shortly after as Curran and Anthony DeCapua both hit shots from beyond the arc.

Ricker, Pannes and Kennedy would continue to grind out possessions for the Trojans in the fourth, bringing the contest back to even at 48-48 before Curran took control.

With time winding down, Anderson stressed two things to his team.

“It is free throws and rebounding,” he said. “I think our defense is good enough if we limit them to one shot. I feel like we have a pretty good chance of getting that stop, and then of course make free throws and keep our heads.”

Ricker would muscle out a pair of buckets with time winding away, but the Trojans were eventually be forced to start fouling, allowing Curran and DeCapua to secure the win with four makes at the free-throw line.

“They battled, we battled. That was a great basketball game,” Emley said. “I thought they did really well on Curran, for the most part, and then he hits that big 3 up at the top of the key.”

Jayden Gustafson would supplement the scoring for Allegany-Limestone with 12 points, while Ricker finished with 16 and 10 rebounds. Kennedy added 16 points, six rebounds and two steals; Pannes 9 points, eight boards and an assist.

ALLEGANY LIMESTONE (59)

AGiardini 3 0 7, Curran 9 7 27, Delong 1 0 2, Decapua 2 2 7, Kwiatkowsky 1 0 2, Gustafson 5 2 12, MGiardini 1 0 2. Totals 22 12 59.

SOUTHWESTERN (52)

Munir 1 0 3, Kennedy 6 4 16, Johnson 2 1 6, Pannes 3 3 9, Ricker 7 2 16, Pirello 1 0 2. Totals 18 10 52.

3-point goals–Curran 2, Decapua, Munir, Johnson.

Allegany Limestone 8 8 24 19 — 59

Southwestern 10 11 13 18 — 52