Hornets' comeback falls short in loss to Loyalsock
By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | March 5, 2017
A fourth-quarter rally by the Wellsboro Boys Basketball team fell short in the 41-36 loss to Loyalsock on Saturday, March 4 in the District IV Class AAA consolation game.
Loyalsock held the Hornets' to their lowest point total of the entire 2016-17 season.
The Hornets found themselves trailing 8-0 in the first quarter before senior Jacob Singer hit two three-pointers to get the Hornets on the scoreboard with just under three minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Despite the poor shooting, and 4 early turnovers, Loyalsock led 9-6.
The Lancers built their lead to 10 points midway through the second quarter, then Wellsboro's big men took over. Junior Collin Pietropola and sophomore Brandyn Tuttle scored all 7 of the Hornets' points in the quarter to trail 20-13 at halftime.
Wellsboro's third quarter woes continued as the Hornets managed just six points, while Loyalsock scored 12. Five more turnovers in the quarter gave the Lancers a double-digit lead as the fourth quarter started. Trailing 32-19, the Hornets switched up their defense, causing Loyalsock to turn the ball over, and led to Wellsboro outscoring the Lancers in the final quarter.
Shots by senior Alden Weiner and Pietropola sparked Wellsboro, then Tuttle and junior Dalton Prough got the Hornets to within 11 points midway through the quarter. A three by Singer cut the lead to 7 with just over a minute remaining and Wellsboro got the score to 4 points, but then Loyalsock made three foul shots in the closing seconds to close out the win and qualify for the PIAA state tournament.
"The boys never give up," said head coach Todd Outman. "The seniors really wanted to extend their high school career and it's just unfortunate that we came up short. We got down by 12 and they could've folded and made it worse, but they fought back to within four or five and it just happend to stay there. They (Loyalsock) made some free throws and once again silly mistakes, and you can't do that this time of year."
Gerald Ross led all scorers with 17 points, and was the game's only scorer in double figures. Singer and Pietropola both finished with 9 points for Wellsboro, Prough had 8, Tuttle added 6 off the bench, and Weiner and junior Nic Ingerick scored two points each. Tuttle finished with 12 rebounds, Pietropola had 7 rebounds and 3 assists, Weiner had 2 rebounds, Prough had 2 assists and 1 steal, and Singer had 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Junior Quinn Henry had 1 rebound and 2 assists and sophomore Andrew Brelo recorded an assist.
The loss not only ends the Hornets' season, but ends the careers of Singer, Weiner, and Brandon Lamphier.
Singer finshes third all-time in Wellsboro Basketball history* with three-pointers made (120). Singer scored 580 career points, 64 assists, 34 blocks, 75 steals, and 212 rebounds. Lamphier ended his career with 399 points, 137 assists, 7 blocks, 89 steals, and 206 rebounds. Weiner scored 288 points, had 22 assists, 36 blocks, 33 steals, and 208 rebounds.
"They're a great bunch of kids," Outman said of his three seniors. "I think all three of them played AAU the last couple of summers and put a lot of time in to get us to this type of situation and I'm not so sure we would've gotten here without their leadership. The had a good four years in the Wellsboro basketball program, they've continued the success we had and hopefully the underclassmen can keep it going"
Wellsboro ends the season 21-6.
* - Records may not be accurate to date due to incomplete stats. If you know of a record not currently listed on this page, or have game statistics or film from previous years, please contact us.
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.
