Hornets drop North Penn, 60-40

By: Ed Weaver  /  December 13, 2013

After a sloppy start the Wellsboro Varsity boys basketball team buckled down and defeated rival North Penn 60-40 Thursday night in Wellsboro.

The Hornets jumped out to an early 8-2 lead and pushed it to 18-6 after the first quarter, but the Panthers fought back in the second, out scoring Wellsboro 12-5 to cut the deficit to 23-18 going into the half. Wellsboro would adjust during th break and out scored the Panthers 22-12 in the third quarter and 15-10 in the fourth to seal the win.

"The other night against Sayre we had no intensity," said head coach Todd Outman. "We watched a lot of film on Wednesday and noticed our intensity and execution needed to get better. We discussed that before the game and again at halftime to make sure we played with a lot of intensity and do what we're capable of doing."

Junior Kieron Smethers led the Hornets with 15 points, eight boards, and four blocks while Senior Joey Doganiero added 12 points, eight rebounds and a steal.

"Rebounding was an issue last game and we did a much better job of it tonight," noted Outman.

Junior Michael Pietropola had 10 points, eight rebounds and five steals, Senior Dylan Prough had 10 points, six rebounds and three steals, Sophomore Dawson Prough scored 10 points, and Junior Nick Marple had three points.

"We just have to keep improving each game because we have a long ways to go.We did a lot of good things tonight but we also did some not-so-good things. We just need to keep working hard in practice and good things will happen," finished Outman.

In the J.V. game, North Penn defeated Wellsboro 39-28. Freshman Brandon Lamphier and Sophomore Nick Tremper led the team with seven points each and Freshman Jacob Singer had six. The loss drops the J.V. team to 1-2 on the year.

With the win, the Varsity team improves to 2-1. The team will be back in action on Saturday, December 14 as they travel to Canton.