Middle School boys knock off undefeated Liberty

By: Ed Weaver  /  March 2, 2017

The Wellsboro Middle School Boys Basketball team picked up their biggest win of the year by beating previously undefeated North Penn-Liberty 39-32 on Wednesday, March 1.

The first half was a back and forth "slugfest" as both teams were very evenly matched. Wellsboro would take an early 5-4 first quarter lead, then the Mounties battled back in the second and would eventually take a 13-11 lead at halftime. Joseph Grab scored all 11 of the Hornets' first half points.

Wellsboro then went on to outscored North Penn-Liberty 28-19 in the second half. Wellsboro got a point back in the third by outscoring the Mounties 13-12 to trail 25-24 entering the fourth. Grab kept up his stellar play in the quarter, dropping 7 points, but Zach Singer and Isaac Keane stepped up with a combined 6 points in the quarter.

Once the fourth started, Grab exploded for 11 of the Hornets' 15 points, while Keane and Will Poirier added the other four.

"I thought we put together our first full game of basketball," said head coach Jason Greenfield. "I feel the we won the game defensively where Zach and Isaac might not have scored a lot but their defensive effort was outstanding. I'm very proud with the way the team played every one of them. It was a great team win against a great undefeated team before us."

Grab finished the game with 29 points, Keane and Singer scored 4 each, and Poirier added 2. Keane also added 6 rebounds and 5 steals, and Poirier finished with 3 assists and 2 steals.

In the B game, Wellsboro lost 22-16. Liam Manning led Wellsboro with 11 points, 9 of which came in the first half.

The win improves the A team's record to 11-6. The team will be back in action on Friday, March 3 at Williamson.