By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | February 23, 2013
The Lady Hornets fell to top seed Mt. Carmel 67-31 Saturday afternoon and were eliminated from District IV playoff contention.
The Hornets kept the game close in the first quarter as they trailed 12-6, but things started to unravel in the second quarter. Mt. Carmel capitalized off numerous turnovers to score 18 points in the second quarter to take a 30-12 lead into the half.
"It took us a little while to figure out what Mt. Carmel was throwing at us defensively becuase they were scrambling all over the court," said head coach Mary Grab. "We told our girls it would be a physical game, and it was compared to a typical NTL game. They did a very good job of keeping us out of our comfort zone all game."
The Hornets struggled all game against Mt. Carmel's defense, which kept Seniors Mackenzie Marple, Hannah Zuchowski, and Kimberly Acorn in check all game long. Zuchowski led the team with 8 points, Acorn scored 6, and Marple was held to a season-low 2 points coming on her only shot attempt. Marple ends her career in the Green and White with 973 points.
"I'm really happy about our season," said Acorn. "We started out kinda rough but pulled it together as a team when no one really thought we stood a chance about making it to playoffs. I'm also really proud about how the younger girls stepped up and contributed this year."
"I'm gald Sarah Ingerick and Jada Jackson stepped up for us this year, especailly in the North Penn game to help us qualify for Districts," Zuchowski said.
Marple also agreed with Acorn and Zuchowksi.
"I think everybody improved as a team and made their individual game better, which made the team better."
"They were a very scrappy team when they first came out," Acorn noted. "They were more intense today than we were and it was hard to pick back up from that."
Rounding out the remaining scorers for the Lady Hornets was Ingerick with 7 points, Jackson with 2 points, and Senior Jessie Catherman contributed 2 points.
"I'm proud of this year's team," Grab stated. "We were 2-7 at one point earlier in the year and it was tough to come back from that but this group did and pulled it together. This is a good group of kids, they're good people, and they don't get down on one another."
With the loss, the Lady Hornets end their 2012-13 season with a record of 12-12.
Ed Weaver is the owner of Circle W Sports in Wellsboro, PA, is the Sports Director for The Home Page Network and the creator of WellsboroAthletics.com and WellsboroFootball.com. You can follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.