Hornets Withstand Late Mansfield Rally To Win District Play-In Game

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 18, 2026  /  Photo: Lance Larcom

The Wellsboro Varsity Boys Basketball team held off a late rally by rival North Penn-Mansfield to hang on for a 45-42 win in the District IV Class 3A play-in game Tuesday night.

The meeting of the Route 6 rivals was the third on the season. Wellsboro won the Margaret (Peg) Berguson Memorial Trophy game 49-43 in December and North Penn-Mansfield took the second meeting, 54-45. The Hornets' 55-50 win last week over Central Columbia earned them the #9 seed, setting up the rubber match with the rival Tigers, who had the #8 seed.

"Tonight was a hard fought win tonight," head coach Ron Doughtie said. "Mansfield made us earn it and you have to applaud the way they played. I'm really proud of the effort from everyone on our team. We got nice balanced scoring and played some good team defense at times. The effort on the boards was excellent, especially from Jonathan and Luke."

The Hornets took the first quarter 13-10, led by senior Jonathan Carl with six points. A 10-9 2nd quarter pushed Wellsboro's lead to 23-19 at the half.

Both teams struggled to score following the intermission, with Wellsboro making one more shot from the floor. The Hornets won the third, 7-5, to further increase their lead to 30-24.

In the final frame the Tigers had their best night offensively, scoring 18 points to nearly pull off the comeback. Led by Andy Hermansen and Jason Harer's six points, the Tigers clawed their way back into the game. Wellsboro produced 15 points of their own, eight of them from the floor and seven coming from the foul line. Junior Colin Fletcher matched Hermansen's and Harer's scoring efforts by scoring six points.

Fletcher led the Hornets with 14 points while Carl and fellow senior Luke Rothermel both finished with double-doubles. Carl scored 12 points and pulled down 16 rebounds while Rothermel finished with 10 points and 10 boards.

Sophomore Griffin Morral added 4 points, freshman James Doughtie and senior Marek Mascho chipped 2 points apiece, and junior Ethan Keane added one point.

Fletcher and Rothermel made 4 assists each, Morral made 3 steals and blocked a shot, and Doughtie grabbed 5 rebounds.

Hermansen led all scorers with 17 points. He also made 6 assists.

The win improves the Hornets' to 12-11 on the season. The team will now take on top-seeded Warrior Run (21-2) Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in Turbotville.