Hornets top Tigers in OT thriller

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 5, 2016

The Wellsboro Varsity Boys Basketball team bounced back from a rough loss to Athens to hand rival North Penn-Mansfield a 72-67 OT loss on Thursday, February 4.

The Hornets jumped out to an early lead as they hit four three-pointers from sophomores Dalton Prough and Quinn Henry and juniors Alden Weiner and Jacob Singer. The Hornets built up a nice 22-8 lead after the first, but the Tigers battled back as they outscored Wellsboro 13-10 in the second. The Tigers found their groove from behind the line as Derrick Herbst hit two from deep to cut into the Hornets' lead. Brock Burleigh, Shane Kelly, and Joel Whitteker also contributed, but Wellsboro held a 32-21 advantage after Dawson Prough hit a buzzer-beater to end the half.

North Penn-Mansfield continued to chip away in the second half as they continued to outscore the Hornets. Burleigh took over the half as he 25 of his game-high 33 points in the half. The Tigers outscored Wellsboro 19-15 in the third to cut Wellsboro's lead to 47-38 as the fourth quarter started.

Burleigh kept up his hot hand in the fourth as he scored the majority of his points from the foul line. Herbst cut the Hornets' lead with his third three-pointer, but his biggest shot would come with only a handful of time left in the game. Kelly was at the foul line for the Tigers for two shots and made the first, but missed the second. Burleigh then grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked the ball back to Herbst. Herbst launched a deep three, that went in, and tied the game at 62-62 to send the game into overtime.

The Hornets controlled the overtime period as Weiner and Singer eached scored four, with Singer hitting foul shots to ice it.

Dawson Prough scored a team-high 17 points to go with five rebounds. Henry scored 14 points, Weiner had 12, and Dalton Prough scored 11. Junior Brandon Lamphier and Singer each finished the game with nine points.

In the JV game, the Hornets kept their perfect season going with a 42-30 win. Sophomore Collin Pietropola (12), freshman Brandyn Tuttle (11), and freshman Andrew Brelo (10) all led the Hornets to their 21st win.

The win improves the Varsity team's record to 14-7. The team will be back in action on Saturday as they travel to Montoursville for their final regular season game.