Turnovers Plague Lady Hornets In Loss To Liberty

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 7, 2023  /  Photo: Lance Larcom/ntwsportsreport.com

The Wellsboro Lady Hornets committed 32 turnovers as they lost 41-31 to North Penn-Liberty on Monday, February 6.

Wellsboro was very sluggish to begin the game as they only hit two individual foul shots in the opening quarter. Liberty went on a 12-2 run, hitting three shots from the floor and going 5-of-7 from the foul line to take an early lead.

The Lady Hornets came alive to start the second, getting some early steals that turned into points on the other end of the floor. Wellsboro scored four quick points and continued to cut into the Lady Mounties' lead.  As the quarter wound down they pulled within two points, and eventually tied the game at 17-all as they closed the half out on a 15-5 run.

Once the second half got underway the Lady Mounties again put the clamps on the Wellsboro offense, holding them to just two points in the third quarter, as they went on a 15-2 run. Wellsboro continued struggling offensively as they didn't make a basket until midway through the final quarter.

Liberty led by as much as 40-19 late in the game until Wellsboro made a few shots, bringing it to a 10-point game.

"Liberty has a nice team, a lot of seniors, tall and athletic," head coach Darrell Morris said. "Their length affected us on offense. We had a rough first quarter, then dominated the 2nd quarter to tie it up at the half. I felt like we had all the momentum, but a two point 3rd quarter was too much for us to overcome. We are young and hopefully we learn to play more consistent throughout the game."

Junior Maddy Mascho and sophomore Chloe Brandenburg led Wellsboro with 11 points each while senior Ella Posada had 5 points and sophomore Paige Logsdon finished with 4. Logsdon also grabbed 15 rebounds and Posada had 3 steals and made 2 assists.

Jaclyn Nelson and Haley Litzelman paced the Lady Mounties with 13 points apiece, with all of Nelson's points coming in the second half. Sidney Landis finished with 8 points, Kaylee Graham added 5, and Elizabeth Ritchie rounded out the scoring with 2 points.

Liberty also won the JV game, 19-17. Brandenburg led the Lady Hornets with 7 and junior Hannah Gilmour added 5 points.

The loss drops the Lady Hornets to 7-11 overall and 7-6 in the NTL Large School Division standings. The team is back in action on Wednesday at home against Troy.