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Emma Coolidge knew she needed to set the tone Thursday night. Wellsboro came in on a four-game losing streak to put them under .500 for the first time this season at 4-5, and she knew this rivalry matchup with North Penn-Mansfield would be crucial.
She seized the moment and her early scoring set the tone for Wellsboro as they defeated their rivals, 40-25.
"We just really needed to come together. It wasn’t just one person that really showed up. It was the whole team and that’s really important for a big win and coming of a losing streak is nice because it feels great to win. No one likes to lose," Coolidge said
Coolidge had six of the Hornets' 11 first-quarter points and played with a sense of urgency all night long. It's what you want out of a senior leader and one of your best players.
"She showed up tonight and how she goes, we go. She played well tonight and made some crucial buckets in the first half and got us that lead that we could ride to the end," Wellsboro coach John Davis said.
It was a great first half for Wellsboro, which led 20-3 at one point and gave up just one made field goal in the first 13 and a half minutes of the game. The Hornets' length and size on defense frustrated North Penn-Mansfield all evening long.
Freshman guard Chloe Brandenberg had a steal and a layup sandwiched around three Coolidge buckets to give Wellsboro a quick 8-0 lead out of the gate before North Penn-Mansfield's Peyton Chapel hit a 3 with 13 seconds left in the quarter to finally get the Tigers on the board. However, Brandenberg scored again with less than 5 seconds left in the quarter to give Wellsboro a 10-3 lead.
Brandenberg, who scored a career-high 11 points, is one of a group of talented young Wellsboro players that had a ton of success at the junior high level. The freshman is starting to come into her own as teams move towards the second half of their seasons. It's a program that has not had to start a lot of freshmen in its history, but Brandenberg and fellow freshman standout Paige Logsdon are taking it in stride.
"(Starting as a freshman) has definitely been a blast and I just am so happy that (Paige and I) get to do it together and experience it together and just grow as teammates and friends," Brandenberg said.
In the second quarter it was her classmate's turn to help Wellsboro extend their lead as the 6-foot Logsdon showed why she has so many excited about her athletic potential. Logsdon showed off a lot of her game on two crucial second-quarter buckets, and after a rebound and putback, Wellsboro led 20-3.
Logsdon had a huge volleyball season as a freshman for Wellsboro, a program that has played even less freshmen over the years than basketball. Just like in volleyball, she's shown to simply be too good to keep off the court.
"(Chloe and I) took other girls' spots and we have that pressure that we have to perform well every single time to make sure that we don’t lose our spot or let our team down," Logsdon said. "Early in volleyball season I was letting stuff get to me from students sections but I'm a lot more calm now.
The Tigers got the offense going later in the second quarter as Peyton Chapel scored all nine of the Tigers' first-half points and showed off an ability to shoot it off the dribble and on the catch as North Penn-Mansfield ended the half down 22-9. The sophomore small forward is one of a number of promising players for the Tigers, who like Wellsboro have had success at the junior high level. She led all scorers with 18 points.
Wellsboro quickly got the lead back up to twenty to start the third quarter as Chloe Brandenberg found Logsdon underneath, then made a three of her own, then found older sister Emma in the soft spot of the zone for a mid-range jumper to put Wellsboro up 31-11. Chapel quickly answered with back-to-back 3s to cut it quickly back to 14, and another make from downtown with 20 seconds left in the quarter to get the Hornet lead down to 11. It was the closest the Tigers got since less than 2 minutes into the second quarter.
Wellsboro's defense regrouped as they held North Penn-Mansfield to without a field goal in the final quarter. Baskets by Coolidge and both Brandenberg sisters were enough to give Wellsboro the win and move them back to .500 as they look to build momentum as they enter the back half of their season.
"It feels so good to win. I know I’m feeling on top of the world, but we still have some stuff to work on. We play Wyalusing soon ,so we need to just take this win and keep moving forward," Coolidge said.
WELLSBORO (40)
Chloe Brandenberg 5 0-0 11, Maddy Mascho 0 2-2 2, Ella Posada 2 0-3 2, Emma Brandenberg 3 0-0 6, Emma Coolidge 5 1-3 11, Paige Logsdon 4 0-0 8. Totals 18 3-8 40.
N.P.-MANSFIELD (25)
Ella Farrer 0 0-0 0, Shaniya Sparrow 1 0-0 2, Peyton Chapel 6 2-3 18, McKenna Lightner 0 3-6 3, Ella Swingle 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 5-9 25.
Wellsboro 10 12 11 7 — 40
N.P.-Mansfield 3 6 13 3 — 25
3-point goals: Wellsboro 1 (Brandenberg 1), NPM 4 (Chapel 4),