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The 2017 basketball season starts this weekend, and the Hornets are ready to be back on the court.

Boys Head Coach: Todd Outman (8th year, 141-37)
Boys 2016 Season Record: 21-6
Boys Key Returners: Dalton Prough, Quinn Henry, Collin Pietropola, Nic Ingerick
Boys Player(s) to Watch: Andrew Brelo, Brandyn Tuttle, Holden Kennedy

Last year’s season ended short of expectations in making the District IV Class AAA finals and the state playoffs. With a loss to Southern Columbia in the semi-finals, the Hornets finished fourth overall and missed the state tournament.

This year’s squad brings back a fully-loaded roster, as only 3 members of the 2016 graduated. Returning this year are seniors Dalton Prough, Quinn Henry, Collin Pietropola, and Nic Ingerick who all saw significant minutes in 2016. Prough led Wellsboro in points (348), rebounds (172), and steals (67) and has the potential to become the Hornets’ next 1,000-point scorer.

While Henry missed the first part of last year with an injury, the senior is ready to roll and will run the Hornets’ fast-paced, attack-oriented offense. With Henry at the point, look for the senior to distribute the ball to Prough, inside to Pietropola and Brandyn Tuttle, and out on the wings to Ingerick and Andrew Brelo.

While Brelo and Tuttle saw some Varsity minutes last year, look for their roles to be drastically increased, especially Tuttle down low with Pietropola. Add in the help from Tanner Button, Holden Kennedy, Billy Lechler, Bergen Weiner, Hunter Brown and Joe Grab off the bench, anything less than a district title will be a disappointment.

“That’s what we play for (a district title),” said Outman. “Every year we come in and we talk about getting to that game and if we work hard in practice to achieve that goal, things take care of themselves, the league title and wins and all that happens.”

Girls Head Coach: John Davis (5th year, 55-42)
Girls 2016 Season Record: 17-10
Girls Key Returners: Lizzie Poirier, Rachael Tuttle, Emma Poirier
Girls Player(s) to Watch: Tory Self, Cathryn Brought

The Lady Hornets took home a fourth place overall finish in District IV in the 2016 season but 2017 should be bigger and brighter. Despite losing three members from last year’s team to graduation, Wellsboro returns their top three scorers in Lizzie and Emma Poirier and Tuttle.

Lizzie had a breakout 2016, scoring 336 points and places herself to be Wellsboro’s next 1,000-point scorer. As a sophomore, Emma had a solid 2016 year scoring 197 points and Tuttle scored 184 points, but grabbed an area-high 335 rebounds and played solid defense to help position the Lady Hornets as district title contenders.

With additions of Cathryn Brought and Tory Self, Wellsboro’s first-five will be hard for NTL schools to match up with. Brought saw playing time last year as a freshman and contributed 56 points and 58 rebounds. Now in a starting role Brought will help Tuttle control the offensive and defensive glass. Self, who is new to Wellsboro, was an all-county and all-state all-star from Charleston, West Virginia last season. Self is an excellent ball handler, driver and passer, which will help ignite the Lady Hornets’ offense this season and create multiple scoring opportunities, not only for herself, but for the other 4 girls on the court as well.

For more information on the Wellsboro basketball teams, please visit WellsboroBasketball.com, powered by Circle W Sports.