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The Wellsboro Varsity Boys Basketball team came home second in District IV Class AA as they lost to Loyalsock 54-35 on Saturday, February 28.

The Hornets scored the first points of the game, and led 10-7 over the top seeded Lancers after the first quarter. Loyalsock woke up in the second as they outscored Wellsboro 14-10, but Wellsboro stayed right with them and trailed 21-20 at halftime.

The third quarter was when everything went wrong for the Hornets. Loyalsock turned up their defensive pressure forcing Wellsboro to turn the ball over which led the quick Loyalsock points. Seniors Kieron Smethers and Jake Mitchell also picked up their fourth fouls in the quarter. Once the two Hornet big men were forced to sit, the Lancers went on a 10-0 scoring run and outscored Wellsboro 22-4 in the quarter to blow the game open.

Wellsboro went down swinging in the fourth as both teams each scored 11 points, but the third quarter deficit was too much for the Hornets to overcome, as thye finished second in District IV Class AA for the second time in three years.

Smethers put up a double-double on the night with 10 points and 17 rebounds (15 defensive) to lead the Hornets on the night. Freshman Quinn Henry was the second leading scorer with eight points, Senior Michael Pietropola scored five, and Junior Dawson Prough had four. Senior Brieux Thibaut, Sophomore Jacob Singer, Sophomore Alden Weiner, and Freshman Collin Pietropola all had two points each on the night to round out the scoring.

Mitchell grabbed six rebounds and Smethers blocked three shots on the night.

For Loyalsock, Omar Little scored a game-high 18 points and Ben Sosa finished with 14. Kyle Datres pitched in with 5 points, putting him over the 1,000 career point milestone.

The loss drops Wellsboro to 19-6 overall. The team will continue their season in the PIAA State Playoffs next weekend as they take on Mahanoy Area on Saturday, March 7 at Martz Hall in Pottsville, PA. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m.