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The Wellsboro Hornets traveled to Mansfield where they faced the Tigers in the opening round of the NTL playoffs Friday night. The game was originally scheduled for Thursday but pushed back to Friday due to the winter storm.

Neither team seemed affected by the extra day off and looked fresh and ready to play.

The Hornets took an early 13-7 lead after the first quarter. The Hornets executed their offense well and took advantage of a lot of missed shots by the Tigers and converted them into transition baskets. The Tigers struggled all night long trying to get their offense in gear but never were able to do so.

Dawson Prough and Michael Pietropola led all scorers with 20 points each. Joey Doganiero also added 14 points and three assists. Kieron Smethers had a double double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Mansfield’s Bo Burleigh led the team with 15 points. Jarrod Burd and Bryce Zaparzynski each added 10.

The Hornets defeated the Tigers 78-48 and advanced to the NTL championship.

The Hornets faced the Towanda Black Knights Saturday at Mansfield University. This was the third time the two teams faced each other with the Black Knights defeating the Hornets in the past two match-ups.

Both teams came out of the gate strong trading baskets and not giving an inch. Towanda started out the first quarter shooting great from three-point land. Noah Wheeler led that charge with 9 points in the first quarter. All of them being three-pointers. Towanda led 16-13 after the first quarter. Wellsboro would then go on to outscore the Black Knights 12-7 in the second quarter. In the third quarter the hornets came out playing excellent offense attacking the rim and using great execution to pull away from the Black Knights. Towanda settled for tough contested jump shots in the fourth quarter and was never able to claw back in it. Wellsboro beat Towanda by a final score of 56-47.

Pietropola led the Hornets with 15 points. Doganiero and Dylan Prough each had 11 points and Kieron Smethers had a double double for the second straight night with 10 points and 17 rebounds.

Both teams begin District play next week. For the complete recap click the video link above.

Special thanks to Ed Weaver of WellsboroAthletics.com for providing Home Page with box scores throughout the season.