Lady Hornets top North Penn-Liberty, 60-23

By: Ed Weaver  /  January 18, 2017

Three Lady Hornets scored in double figures as the Wellsboro Varsity Girls Basketball team defeated North Penn-Liberty 60-23 on Tuesday, January 17 in Wellsboro.

After a couple early baskets by the Lady Mounties, Wellsboro went on a 19-8 run as senior Janessa Davis and junior Lizzie Poirier combined for 13 of the team's points for an early lead. Wellsboro's defense continued to play well in the second as they allowed only three baskets by North Penn-Liberty.

Sophomore Emma Poirier and senior Autum Kitajima controlled the quarter for the Lady Hornets, combining for 11 of the team's 16 points to take a commanding 35-14 lead at halftime. North Penn-Liberty had trouble getting their shots to fall in the second half, making only three buckets from the field in the final 16 minutes. The Lady Hornets outscored the Lady Mounties 25-9 to pick up the win.

"We came off a tough loss last night (Monday) and I was worried about us rebounding and we did," said Wellsboro head coach John Davis. "They played hard and there's still some stuff we have to clean up. We have a home game this Thursday, but it was a good team win, they played hard, and I couldn't be happier."

Emma Poirier led all scorers with 14 points, Lizzie Poirier scored 13 and grabbed 7 rebounds, and Davis had 11. Kitajima finished with 7 points and 5 boards, and junior Mikel Shabloski and freshman Cathryn Brought scored 4 points each. Sophomore Luna Alexander scored 3 off the bench and sophomore Dani Hunt and senior Jessica Grab had 2 points each.

Junior Rachael Tuttle had a team-high 9 rebounds a night after grabbing her 500th career rebound, freshman Liza Manning added 7 rebounds, and sophomore Heidi Zuchowski recorded 8 rebounds.

Marissa Harer led North Penn-Liberty with 8 points, 6 rebounds and a block, Taylor Thompson had 6 points and 5 rebounds, and Michaela Schmouder added 5 points.

Wellsboro won the JV game 50-9 to improve to 9-4. Sophomore Tiana Lecker led the Lady Hornets with 10 points and freshman Brieanna Tuttle had 7. Thompson had 3 points to lead North Penn-Liberty.

The win improves the Lady Hornets' record to 9-5 (8-1 NTL). Wellsboro will be back in action on Thursday against Sayre.