Losing has a tendency to become contagious, and if left untreated, it can certainly infect a program with a sense of frustration and futility.
Just ask Tamaqua head coach Caszy Kosciolek and Jim Thorpe head coach Brian Carroll.
Coming into last night's Schuylkill League Division 1 contest, Tamaqua had managed to win just once in the past 36 days (losers of 9 of its past 10 games), while Jim Thorpe had dropped six straight games after starting the year 5-2.
Sick of losing and needing a win in the worst of ways, the Raiders found a Kure(k) – as in Tamaqua swingman Matt Kurek.
The 6-2 senior prescribed a team-high 20 points (including three three-pointers) along with a healthy dose of 14 rebounds to lead Tamaqua to a 52-41 victory over the Olympians.
"Early January is usually the dog days of basketball season, especially when you're losing and you have a relatively young team," stated Kosciolek. "A win like this can go a long way when you're struggling like we've been recently.
"We had a very disappointing setback Friday at Panther Valley (a 71-57 loss), so for those kids to come in here tonight continuing to believe in themselves and continuing to play hard is just going to give us momentum to finish out the season. A win like this is just a stepping stone to u