Wellsville – 64 Hornell – 50: Lady Lions Cheer and Trenton Green overwhelm the visiting Raiders
From Staff Reports, GALLERY by Ella Green
After a slow start to the season with an injury to Trenton Green, the Wellsville Lions needed a big-time performance against visiting Hornell, a team off to a hot start.
Green, a senior, started coming into his own during a loss to Andover-Whitesville, and hit full strength against Hornell. Just in time to deliver his coach, Tom Muska, a birthday gift.
The Lions downed Hornell, 64-50 as Green had 23 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and a block.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better night,” said Muska. “You always hope each week it feels like things are trending in the right direction and it really feels like we are right now.”
The Wellsville – Hornell game is always a packed house, and almost always a close competition. The first two quarters of night played out just so, an aggressive game with a loud Lion’s Den.
“We started the game really well,” commented Hornell coach, Kirk Scholes. “I thought we came out attacking on both ends. But, as the game went on Wellsville became the aggressor and we got put on our heels.”
The Lions came out strong in the second half and capitalized on key Red Raider turnovers.
The Wellsville cheer squad played a big part in the second half runway by the Lions. They boomed out inspired routines and kept players motivated as the Lions pulled away from Hornell.
By keeping the crowd engaged and the volume on loud they made a difference in this big win. Hornell’s Coach Scholes admitted, “Tonight was really our first test on the road in a loud environment. We didn’t handle some of that well. “
Green had a big night, scoring 23 points. Blake Kalkhof scored 16, and Cole Densmore scored 13 for the Lions. Cole White had four points, Drew Cowburn knocked down a big 3-pointer, andNick GT had five.
Ben Woolever led all scorers with 24 points and 3 steals for the Red Raiders. He also had 3 steals on the night.
“That Woolever kid amazed me at some points,” Muska said. “Trenton didn’t let him get anything easy, but he has an amazing feel for the game already.”
Muska said the cheerleaders and both crowds made for a great night.
“You know the crowd is always great for a home game vs Hornell,” Muska said. “Our student section deserves their flowers for the past two games really we appreciate that type of atmosphere.”
In the JV game, Wellsville won, 64-40. Like the varsity, the JV trailed early but after taking a small lead into the half, the JV Lions out-scored Hornell with an incredible 41-10 run.
Devon Mattison had a game-high 28 points for Wellsville’s JV’s while Wes Urbano had 13, Easton Faulkner and Kniffen Cook had seven, Ryker Johnson drained tow big 3-pointers, Claytin Loucks had three points and 10 rebounds and Xander Faulkner handed out five assists.
For Hornell’s JV’s, Anthony Winant had 16 points.
