By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | February 18, 2016
The Wellsboro Middle School Boys Basketball team suffered their first loss of the year to Athens on Wednesday, February 17.
The Hornets were outhustled in the first quarter as Athens jumped out to an early 16-4 lead, but Wellsboro fought to get back into the game as they outscored Athens 16-6 in the second and third quarters to trail 22-20 entering the fourth quarter. Wellsboro kept it close in the final frame, but Athens went on a late run to pick up the 42-33 win.
"Hats off to Athens they were the better team tonight," said head coach Jason Greenfield. "Looking back at the game I would like to apologize to my team on my mistakes as a coach. I think we should have switched up the defense and played some zone but I got caught up in the game. It is my first year coaching so I am still learning just as the kids are so I will fix what I messed up on and continue to try to make our team better."
Billy Lechler led the Hornets with 17 points on the night and Daniel Mitchell scored 6.
In the B game, the Hornets held on to beat Athens 28-23. Alex Burrell was the leading scorer for Wellsboro with 10 points and Will Poirier pitched in with 7.
The loss drops the Hornets' record to 5-1. The team will be back in action tonight against Towanda.
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.