Lady Hornets drop heartbreaker to East Juniata

By: Ed Weaver  /  February 23, 2019

The Wellsboro Varsity Girls Basketball team's season came to an end in the first round of the District IV AAA playoffs at East Juniata on Friday, February 22.

The Lady Hornets dropped a 36-35 heartbreaker that ended their season earlier than expected. EJ led 10-6 after the first quarter and maintained their four point lead at halftime, 15-11, as both teams scored 5 points in the second quarter. EJ edged Wellsboro 11-10 in the second quarter to lead 26-21 heading into the fourth quarter.

Wellsboro attempted a comeback and outscored EJ 14-10 but ran out of time as EJ held on for the narrow win.

"This team has shown tremendous grit all season. As they did tonight, they battled until the end," said head coach Maureen Poirier. "We struggled offensively but it was due to their pressure defense. They took us out of our comfort zone."

Senior Emma Poirier led the Lady Hornets with 11 points in her final career game and fellow senior Heidi Zuchowski scored 10 points. Junior Liza Manning and sophomore Jena Boyce scored 4 points each and senior Dani Hunt, junior Cathryn Brought, and sophomore Bailey Monks all added 2 points each.

"A loss is never easy especially when it ends your season and your high school career," continued Poirier. "Emma, Dani, and Heidi will be greatly missed next season. Awesome season girls."

Poirier finished her career scoring 946 points, 422 of them coming this year. Poirier joins her sister Lizzie Poirier, who also finished with over 900 career points (974).

Zuchowski scored 75 points on the year to finish with 81 points for her career. Hunt finished with 46 career points, 31 of them this season.

The loss ends the Lady Hornets' season at 15-10 overall.