Middle School Hornets sweep North Penn-Liberty

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 20, 2018

Both Wellsboro Middle School basketball teams swept North Penn-Liberty on Monday, February 19.

In the girls game the Lady Hornets won 34-7. Six girls got in the scoring column in the first quarter as Wellsboro built a 17-2 lead. Wellsboro increased their lead to 22-3 at half and 31-7 after after the third.

"We got off to a fast start offensively and shot our highest shooting percentage of the year from the field at 42% for the game," said head coach Darrell Morris. "We were a little sloppy with the ball and had 19 turnovers, but we got our younger girls a lot of playing time and that should benefit us down the road."

The win was Morris' 101st as head coach of the young Lady Hornets.

Emma Coolidge had 10 points, 8 rebounds, 6 steals, and 1 assist while going 4-of-6 at the foul line. Emma Brandenburgh had 8 points and 4 rebounds; Lindsey Marmara had 6 points, 2 rebounds, 5 steals, and 2 assists; Kambri Cleveland (3 rebounds and Emma Pietropola (3 rebounds) had 4 points each; and Jordyn Abernathy added 2 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. Rylie Boyce added 4 steals and an assist, Molly Ingerick added an assist, and Abbye Cavanaugh added a steal.

Wellsboro also won the B game, 14-8. Jordyn Abernathy had 6 points while Brianna Wilson, Rylie Boyce, Molly Ingerick, and Hailee Kerr added 2 points each.

In the boys game the Hornets edged the Mounties 25-19 to pull back within a game of .500 (3-4). Both teams struggled to convert any shot attempts in the first quarter, but North Penn-Liberty managed to hold a slim 4-2 lead. Wellsboro's shots finally started falling in the second as they outscored Liberty 6-3 to take an 8-7 lead at halftime.

Both teams scored 7 points in the third to keep the Hornets' lead at one (15-14), but the Hornets outscored the Mounties 10-7 in the fourth, led by Isaac Keane's 7 points, to hold on for the win.

"I thought we played hard and that game was a good representation of how defense wins games," said head coach Jason Greenfield.

Keane finished with a game-high 12 points, Peyton McClure finished with 6, Conner Adams had 4, and Ryan Sweet chipped in with 3.

In the B game, the Hornets won 28-16 to improve to 6-1. McClure had 10 points to lead Wellsboro, Matthew Keister had 6, Sweet finished with 5, Cameron Bourght had 4, Aidan Coffee added 2, and Spencer Wetzel chipped in with one.

Both Middle School teams are back in action later this evening on the road in Athens.