Home Page Sports

This special edition of Home Page Sports, in association with Circle W Sports, is brought to you by First Citizens Community Bank. On Saturday, March 10 – the Wellsboro Hornets and North Penn-Mansfield Tigers competed in state playoff games. The Hornets faced off against the Notre Dame-Green Pond Crusaders, while the Tigers traveled to St. Mary to play a revenge game against the Ridgway Elkers.

Wellsboro vs Notre Dame-Green Pond
Wellsboro put it up first in the opening minute as Collin Pietropola found Brandyn Tuttle off an inbounds play for 2. Notre Dame promptly answered back as Billy Cornish found an opening in the paint for two. The teams fired back and forth, fighting for the early lead as the Crusaders’ Filipo Baldo stole the ball for a breakaway layup with 4 minutes remaining in the quarter. Andrew Brelo would put the Hornets within a point off a missile from the left side. By the end of the first, Notre Dame led, 12-11.

Second quarter – the Hornets’ Dalton Prough shot a pass to an open Tuttle and he put it up for two. A few minutes later, Notre Dame’s Zach Defoe drove past his defenders, also for two. On the Hornets next possession Prough put Wellsboro ahead with the trifecta, leading 18-16 with 4:52 left in the half. But Notre Dame wouldn’t be silenced so easily as they put up 6 points in the final minutes. With only seconds left, the Hornets Quinn Henry found Brelo who charged in for the buzzer beater to end the half with Notre Dame leading, 22-21.

Third quarter – The Crusaders found some crazy momentum to open the third as they put up 7 unanswered points. The Hornets found a small reprieve off a Brandyn Tuttle three pointer, but would trail Notre Dame by the end of the third, 33-27.

Wellsboro demonstrated all hope was not lost as Tuttle and Prough lobbed long range bombs on the Crusaders. With lighting fast hands, the Hornets Brelo swiped a Crusader pass and carried it down for two, tying it up 35-35 with just over 5 minutes left. But an unfortunate series of Notre Dame baskets and time management took the Crusaders ahead, 48-41 – bringing a close to the Hornets fantastic season.

Tuttle led the scoring with 17 points and 4 rebounds. Dalton Prough had 14 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block. And Brelo had 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal. The Hornet seniors finished 83-30 thru their 4 years at Wellsboro.

North Penn-Mansfield vs Ridgway
North Penn-Mansfield’s found their first points as Jayden Andrews shot a deep pass to Nick Kasper for an easy three. Ridgway responded with a three of their own by Josh Thorwort. It was threes for days as Andrews sunk one off the right side to finish the quarter with the Tigers leading, 10-9.

Second quarter – the action continued as the Tigers Sawyer Freeman put up two off a scuffle in the paint. Dante Allegretto answered back for Ridgway with a mid-range jumper. The Tigers continued their assault as Garrett David put in a contested layup. North Penn-Mansfield demonstrated their passing game, from Andrews to Jacob Green, to David, to Dylan Meyer for two…ending the half with the Tigers still leading, 22-21.

The Elkers made a comeback in the third as they outscored the Tigers by 6, allowing only two points defensively on foul shots. By the end of the third, Ridgway led, 29-24.

Fourth quarter – the Elkers spit fire, going on a scoring spree, quickly outpacing the Tigers. But North Penn-Mansfield would not be deterred Brent Burleigh drained a three. And Kasper drove up the middle for two. But it wouldn’t be enough as Ridgway kept on the offensive as time ran out, taking the win 55-42, brining North Penn-Mansfield’s outstanding season to a close.

On behalf of all of us here at Home Page, we’d like to congratulate both teams on their outstanding seasons. Also, once again a huge – thank you – to First Citizens Community Bank for making this coverage possible.