Middle School Hornets split with Towanda

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 19, 2016

The Wellsboro Middle School Basketball teams split wins with Towanda on Thursday, February 18.

Boys - Towanda 35, Wellsboro 28

The Boys Basketball team dropped their second consecutive game on Thursday, falling to 5-2 on the year. After leading 14-9 after the first quarter, the Hornets hit a slump in the second as they were outscored 8-2 to trail 17-16 at the half. The Hornets retook the lead with a 12-point third quarter, but were held scoreles in the fourth.

"I thought we came out with alot intensity and then we lost it," said head coach Jason Greenfield. "We started getting out rebounded in the second. Offensively we struggled and I thought we were not patient and forced alot of shots. We need to move the ball better and run the offense instead of going 1-on-1. We will continue to work on that and hopefully get better."

Two Hornets scored in double figures on the night as Billy Lechler led the team with 13 points and Joseph Grab had 10.

In the B game, the Hornets won 24-12. Will Poirier led the team with 6 points and Adam Osborn, Nathan Heath, and Bryson Roberts all added 4 points each.

Girls - Wellsboro 35, Towanda 16

The young Lady Hornets improved to 7-0 after jumping out to an early 9-1 lead over the Black Knights. Wellsboro's offense kept clicking as they outscored Towanda 26-15 for the remainder of the game. Jaime Palmer had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals, and 2 assists to lead the team, while Cathryn Brought had 7 points, 2 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists.

Kayla Mengee (3 steals) and Liza Manning (5 rebounds) had 4 points each, Chelsea Morris (3 rebounds), Georgia Macensky, and Jena Boyce had 2 points each, and Lauren Singer added 7 rebounds and 2 steals.

"Our man to man pressure really allowed us to control the game from start to finish," said head coach Darrell Morris. "Jaime and Cathryn are so tough out on the perimeter defensively, and that has allowed us to dictate the tempo of most of our games so far.  Although we only made 15 of 61 shots, the girls are doing a good job of getting open and are taking good shots. We just have to learn to finish. I have been really pleased the last two nights with our hustle and effort."

Wellsboro also won the B game 25-15 to move to 6-1. Sarah Mosher had 8 points, while Bri Tuttle and Chelsie English had 6 points each.

"Our B girls lost to Towanda by 1 in our January scrimmage, so it was nice to see the improvement a month later," concluded Morris.

Both teams will be back in action on Saturday when they host Sayre at 10:00 a.m.