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The Wellsboro Hornets defeated Troy 55-43 in an NTL Large School Division boys basketball match up on Wednesday, January 11, for their second straight win.

Wellsboro got out to an early lead on buckets by seniors Conner Adams and Peyton McClure, but the Trojans quickly rallied to lead 7-4 midway through the opening quarter and eventually led 14-11. However, the Hornet defense tightened up and limited the Trojans to just 4 points in the 2nd quarter. Junior Watson Feil tied the game up at 14-all midway through the quarter, then a layup by freshman Aaron Kirk gave the Hornets their first lead of the evening. After a pair of baskets by the Trojans, a McClure jumper with 1:34 remaining but the Hornets back up for good at 19-18.

Wellsboro would lead 21-18 at halftime.

In the 3rd the Hornets built up a double digit lead only to have it cut in half with under three minutes to play. Wellsboro eventually built their lead back up to 7 points, 38-31, to end the quarter and eventually pushed the lead back up to 9 early in the 4th to go on for the win.

“We tried to make our schedule tough to prepare us for the league, so we knew some losses were possible,” Wellsboro head coach Steve Adams said. “I think we’ve grown from them. These kids have stayed coachable and have taken some critiquing so I think the tougher competition is helping us. Jersey Shore really played us some pressure man-to-man the other night and we got better at it in the game so we were able to handle things better tonight.”

Adams and McClure both finished with 14 points, senior Cameron Brought finished with a double-double of 12 points and 15 boards, junior Caden Smith added 7, Kirk came off the bench for 5 points, and Feil rounded out the scoring with 3 points. Adams added 8 assists and 6 rebounds, Smith grabbed 4 boards and made 5 assists, McClure had a pair of steals, and Feil added 4 rebounds.

Colin Loveland (14) and Jackson Taylor (11) led the Trojans in scoring.

“Our defense filled the gaps pretty well in the second quarter and we did a really good job of limiting them to one shot,” Adams continued. “Our guard play and decision making was very good, we did a nice job of taking the ball to the bucket and being able to dish out to the open man. We also got great contributions from Aaron, Watson and Ian filling in for Hayes.”

Wellsboro won a nail-biter of a JV game, fending off the Trojans, 44-42 to snap a 4-game losing streak. Kirk led the team with 14 points, freshmen Marek Mascho and Jonathan Carl added 9 points each, and sophomore EJ Keck chipped in 8. Joseph Fry had 18 for the Trojans.

The win improves the Hornets to 6-4 overall (4-1 NTL Large School Division) while the Trojans fall to 7-5 (3-3 NTL Large School Division). Both teams are back in action this Friday, with Wellsboro traveling to Wyalusing and Troy hitting the road for Towanda.