Strong First Half Leads Hornets Past Mounties

By: Ed Weaver  /  January 24, 2023

A 37-point 1st half by Wellsboro led the Hornets to a 59-31 win over North Penn-Liberty on Monday, January 23 for their sixth consecutive win.

The Hornets jumped out to an early lead, one they would never relinquish, by scoring 20 points in the opening quarter while holding the Mounties to just 7 points. Wellsboro kept the Mounties under 10 points a quarter the rest of the game and opened up a 37-16 lead at halftime, and 52-24 after three quarters of play.

Derek Litzelman led North Penn-Liberty with 16 points on the evening. No one else was in double figures.

Three Hornets scored in double digits on the night, led by senior Peyton McClure with 18 points, including hitting 5 more three pointers (just like he did last week against Canton), bringing him to 164 made shots for his career. Senior Conner Adams dropped 15 points while fellow senior Cameron Brought added 13. Junior Caden Smith finished with 9, and junior Hayes Campbell and freshman Luke Rothermel added two points apiece. Brought grabbed 10 boards, Adams added 7 assists, McClure made 6 assists and grabbed 4 rebounds, Smith added 5 rebounds and 5 assists, and Campbell added 7 rebounds and 2 steals.

North Penn-Liberty started out the evening winning the JV game, 41-34. Freshman Aaron Kirk led the Hornets with 9 points and sophomore Payton Yawger added 8.

The win improves the Hornets to 10-4 overall and 8-1 in the NTL Large School Division standings. The team is back on the court at home on Thursday night for their rubber match with Athens.