Lady Hornets overcome slow start to top Williamson in first round of District IV playoffs
By: Ed Weaver | NTL Sports | February 24, 2017
The Wellsboro Lady Hornets weathered the storm in the opening round of the District IV Class AAA playoffs to beat Williamson 43-26.
Not having played a game in 12 days, Wellsboro started out sluggish and had trouble getting shots to fall. The ones that did fall, both jump shots from juniors Rachael Tuttle and Lizzie Poirier, along with the Hornets going 5-of-6 from the foul line gave Wellsboro a 9-1 lead after the first quarter ended.
Wellsboro's troubles continued in the second as they managed to scored only 7 points, 4 coming from Poirier and 3 from senior Autum Kitajima. Williamson was just as rusty as Wellsboro as they only mustered 6 first-half points and trailed 16-6 at halftime.
"It was a sloppy first half," said head coach John Davis. "The girls played hard and defense was there, but offensive execution wasn't there. We have to tighten that up a lot before we move on."
Wellsboro finally came alive in the third quarter as they exploded for 18 points to put the game out of Williamson's reach. Lizzie Poirier, Tuttle, seniors Janessa Davis and Jessica Grab, and sophomore Emma Poirier all hit shots to push the score to 34-12. Trailing 22 in the fourth, Williamson made a run as they outscored Wellsboro 14-9, but they couldn't complete the comeback.
"We came out more focused in the second half," Davis continued. "We have to come out harder in the first quarter, especially with teams that are coming up next. You have games like this. We're going to work on this in practice and be ready for the next game."
Lizzie Poirier led all scorers, and recorded a double-double, with 14 points and 12 rebounds, Tuttle finished with 4 points and 6 rebounds, Davis scored 3, Emma Poirier had 9 points and 4 steals, Kitajima had 5, Grab finished with 4, and junior Mikel Shabloski and freshman Liza Manning aded 2 points each off the bench.
Freshman Cathryn Brought recorded 6 rebounds and 4 steals, and Davis added 4 assists.
Brittany Boyce and Andrea Sheive lead Williamson with 8 points each.
The win improves the Lady Hornets' record to 17-8 on the year, and advances the team into the next round of District IV Class AAA playoffs against the winner of Troy and Hughesville later tonight.
"Those are two good teams that can beat you in different ways," Davis said of his upcoming potential opponent. "They're two different teams, but either way, whoever we play, it's going to be a tough game."
The game will take place at a date, time, and location to be determined.
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.
