Big second half pushes Hornets past Rams

By: Ed Weaver  /  January 18, 2018

In a battle of the top NTL Large School and Small School teams, the Wellsboro Varsity Boys Basketball team topped Wyalusing, 53-25 thanks to a big second half on Wednesday, January 17.

The Hornets jumped out to a 17-5 lead behind a huge, 11-point first quarter from senior Dalton Prough. Wyalusing, however, crept back into the game by outscoring Wellsboro 10-3 to cut the Hornets' lead to just 5 points when the first half ended.

That's when junior Brandyn Tuttle took over.

After making just one basket the entire first half, Tuttle exploded for 20 points in the second half to spark a 33-point half for Wellsboro. While Tuttle scored all but 10 of Wellsboro's points in the half, the Hornet defense allowed just 10 points over the final 16 minutes to hold Wyalusing to just 25 total points.

It was the third time in the last three games Wellsboro has held their opponents to 30 points or less.

Tuttle's 23 points led all scorers on the night and Prough finished out the game with 17. Senior Quinn Henry scored 5 points and senior Collin Pietropola and juniors Holden Kennedy, Andrew Brelo, and Hunter Brown all scored two points each.

Prough added 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals; Tuttle grabbed 5 rebounds and blocked a shot; and Henry had 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals.

Scott Eberlin and Will Martin led Wyalusing with 6 points each.

Wellsboro won the JV game 29-22 to improve to 8-5 on the year. Sophomore Billy Lechler led Wellsboro with 9 points.

The win improves the Varsity team's record to 14-1 and keeps them perfect at 10-0 in the NTL Large School Division standings. The team will be back in action on the road on Friday, January 19 at North Penn-Liberty.