Lady Hornets top North Penn-Mansfield, 54-29

By: Ed Weaver  /  January 7, 2017

Senior Jessica Grab scored a career-high 20 points in the Wellsboro Varsity Girls Basketball team's 54-29 win over rival North Penn-Mansfield on Friday, January 6.

The Lady Hornets jumped out to an early lead hitting two baskets, but a few early Wellsboro fouls kept the Lady Tigers in the game. Wellsboro led 10-6 after the first quarter. Wellsboro continued their hot streak in the second as they outscored Mansfield 13-9 to lead 23-15 at halftime, but broke the game open with an 18-point third quarter.

"We told them at halftime don't relax and take care of what we can take care of, play hard defense, and that the shots would eventually fall," said head coach John Davis. "The girls kept fighting and never gave up and Mansfield played hard. They were well prepared tonight and give them credit too."

The third is when Grab came alive. The senior shooting guard scored 12 of her game-high 20 points in the quarter, with the other six coming from sophomore Emma Poirier and fellow senior Autum Kitajima to push Wellsboro's lead to 20 points.

The Lady Hornets again outscored the Lady Tigers 13-8 in the final frame to win their fifth straight and stay undefeated in the NTL (6-0).

In addition to Grab's 20 points, Emma Poirier contributed 12 points off the bench, 8 of those coming in the second half, to help the Lady Hornets to victory. Junior Rachael Tuttle scored 8 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, junior Lizzie Poirier and senior Janessa Davis had 4 points each, Kitajima finished with 3, freshman Cathryn Brought scored 2, and sophomore Heidi Zuchowski rounded out the scoring with a point.

Davis and Kitajima finished with 6 assists each, Lizzie Poirier had 2 blocked shots and 6 rebounds, Kitajima had 5 steals, and Davis and Grab both had 5 rebounds.

Wellsboro won the JV in dominant fashion by defeating Mansfield 35-8. Brought had a game-high 15 points and freshman Jaime Palmer scored 8 off the bench for the young Lady Hornets' fifth straight win.

The Varsity team improves to 7-3 with the win. The team will be back in action on Wednesday, January 11 on the road in Athens.