By CHRIS BROOKS, managing editor, wellsvillesports.com
CLIFTON SPRINGS — Wellsville was in for another long bus ride up north on Friday. Looking to shake off as close of a defeat as possible against Geneseo back on Tuesday, the Lions were in full rebound mode against the Midlakes Screaming Eagles, as they manifested a 25-point second quarter to add on top of their first quarter lead, never looking back in the rearview mirror on what was a 72-37 road victory.
“This was more what I was expecting to see with our group,” Lions coach Tom Muska said. “It also helps when you have a kid like Nick G-T come off the bench and hit four big shots from deep. We played with a good energy tonight. I thought our bench came in and kept everything going in the right direction. I’m real proud of the response we came up with after Tuesday’s game.”
The tone was set at an instant by the Lions (1-1) following their early advantage over Midlakes in the first eight minutes, as they fired up a gargantuan 25-11 run, led by 10 second quarter points off the hand of Ty Vogel, to help in closing out the first half on the strongest of notes with a 37-17 lead.
Wellsville would remain in the driver’s seat going forward, seeing more added help come to fruition along the way — including a massive fourth quarter finish from Nick Germain-Tardieu, who wound up serving as the team’s leading scorer at the end of the night, becoming one of four different Lions to eclipse the 10-point threshold behind his game-high 17 points.
Aiden Cowburn was not far behind him with 15 points of his own, while Karson Grover concluded with 10 points for the Lions.
Up next for Wellsville is their annual home opener, which is set to begin Monday night in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against the Olean Huskies.
Wellsville 12 25 15 20 – 72
Midlakes 6 11 6 14 – 37
WELLSVILLE: Aiden Cowburn 6 2-4 15, Karson Grover 4 1-2 10, Kai Burke 1 0-0 3, JJ Howard 3 1-2 7, Ty Vogel 4 0-0 10, Nick Germain-Tardieu 6 1-4 17, Jack Davis 1 0-0 2, Trent Green 0 1-2 1, Derek Coleman 3 1-2 7. Totals: 28 7-16 72.
MIDLAKES: Diallo Lewis 0 3-4 3, Connor Tripp 2 0-3 4, Jackson Nurse 4 3-4 12, Marcus Tookes 3 1-2 7, Nate Lathrop 1 1-2 3, Jesse Bennett 3 1-2 7, Janmichael Monge 0 1-2 1. Totals: 13 7-15 37.
3-point goals: Wellsville 9 (Germain-Tardieu 4, Vogel 2, Cowburn, Grover, Burke), Midlakes 1 (Nurse).
Total Fouls: Wellsville 16, Midlakes 12. Fouled out: None.
Jack Bush Tournament at Cowanesque Valley
Wellsville 46, North Penn-Mansfield 26
WESTFIELD, PA — Game one of the young campaign for the Lady Lions of Wellsville was no problem on Friday.
In their annual trip to the Jack Bush Tournament at Cowanesque Valley, they capitalized on two strong ends to each half to speed past their first round adversary, North Penn-Mansfield, and into the championship game with a 46-26 victory.
“It was a good first game out tonight. Being in Pennsylvania, where there is no shot clock and they have different rules than us, I thought we were able to start out pretty well aside from that,” said Lady Lions coach Michelle Alvord. “Makenna (Dunbar) and Natalie (Adams) led us tonight, and Alexa (Hennessy) put out one of the best games I’ve seen her play between last year and up to now. She brought a little bit of everything to the table. Jaden (Dunbar) had the task of keeping their leading scorer held up. She only scored eight points, so that was a big plus as well.”
The Lady Lions (1-0) established their presence immediately in the first half following a narrow lead through the first eight minutes of play, as they controlled both ends of the floor to punctuate a scoreless 8-0 run of North Penn-Mansfield to close out the first half with a strong 16-4 lead.
Although their opposition fired right back in the third quarter with their best stand of offense in the contest, the Wellsville defense locked up the victory once and for all with another dynamic run — a 15-4 fourth quarter jaunt to pull away permanently.
Helping lead the way was Makenna Dunbar, who had 15 game-high points to pair with six rebounds. Natalie Adams had 12 points to go with three boards and three steals, while Jaden Dunbar finished with eight points.
Adding more special teams help was Alexa Hennessy, who had four rebounds.
Prior to the Varsity contest, Hailey Cowburn’s team-high eight points aided the Wellsville JV girls squad in clinching a tournament title game themselves, rolling to a 33-13 win over North Penn-Mansfield.
They will go on to play Northern Potter at 4 p.m. for the title.
As for the Varsity Lady Lions, they will go on to capture Jack Bush Championship glory once again this evening, as they face either Northern Potter or host Cowanesque Valley in a 5:30 p.m. tip-off.
North Penn-Mansfield 4 0 18 4 – 26
Wellsville 8 8 15 15 – 46
NP-MANSFIELD: Maddie McNamara 2 4-4 8, Elaina Shaw 2 0-0 5, Kameron Lightener 5 3-3 13, Reagan Watkins 0 0-2 0. Totals: 9 7-9 26.
WELLSVILLE: Caelyn Stevens 1 1-2 3, Natalie Adams 4 2-2 12, Alexa Hennessy 2 0-0 5, Emily Stuck 0 1-2 1, Lydia Kaye 1 0-0 2, Makenna Dunbar 3 9-10 15, Jaden Dunbar 3 1-2 8. Totals: 14 14-18 46.
3-point goals: NP-M 1 (Shaw), Wellsville 4 (Adams 2, Hennessy, J. Dunbar).
Total Fouls: NP-M 13, Wellsville 10. Fouled out: None.
