Middle School basketball splits with Athens

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 28, 2017

The Wellsboro Middle School Basketball teams split a pair of games with Athens on Monday, February 27.

In the boys game, Wellsboro won 37-23 to improve to 10-6 on the year. The Hornets scored 14 points in the opening quarter while holding Athens to just one field goal and 4 total points. Wellsboro kept the pressure up in the second scoring 12 points, but Athens scored 7 to pull within 24-11 at halftime.

The Wildcats outscored Wellsboro 8-7 in the third, but the Hornets outscored Athens 6-4 in the final frame for the win.

"I was pleased by the way we shared the ball tonight. I think everyone but one person scored tonight," said head coach Jason Greenfield. "I thought we rebounded pretty well as well. I think that we gained some good experience playing down in Williamsport for that tournament. It seemed to have slowed the game down for us."

Joseph Grab led Wellsboro with 15 points, Nevin DeCosta had 6, Isaac Keane finished with 5, and Will Poirier scored 3. Zach Singer, Darryn Callahan, Danny Timmons, and Owen Richardson all added 2 points each. Keane added 9 rebounds, Grab finished with 5, and Singer had 3, while Grab, Keane, and Poirier all had 3 steals.

Wellsboro lost the B game 9-7. Liam Manning led Wellsboro with 6 points and brother Drew Manning scored the other point from the foul line.

In the girls game, Wellsboro lost 18-15. The Lady Hornets won 4-0 after the first quarter and 7-2 at half. Athens rallied to cut the score to 9-6 after the third, outscored 12-6 in the fourth for the win.

"This was a tough game for us to lose because we led the entire game until the final minutes," said head coach Darrell Morris. "Our girls played great defense for most of the game, but a few mistakes at the end and a few missed shots here and there throughout the game are how we allowed to let it slip away. I probably stayed in the zone too long in the fourth once Athens started to hit some shots, so a lot of it falls on me as the coach. It was all in all an exciting game and I feel bad for our girls how it ended, but they will bounce back."

Jena Boyce (2 assists) and Chelsie English (9 rebounds) had 4 points each; Emma Coolidge, Lindsey Marmara, and Sarah Mosher (3 steals) had 2 points each; and Emma Pietropola had 1 point. Bailey Monks added 7 rebounds.

Wellsboro's B Team came from down 13-9 at halftime to win 26-15. Lindsey Marmara and Kathryn Burnett had 10 and 7 points respectively. Emma Brandenburg and Emma Coolidge each added 4 points each and Abbye Cavanaugh added 1 point.

Wellsboro is back in action on Wednesday, March 1 against North Penn-Liberty.