Chloe Brandenburg and Paige Logsdon entered their final season with the Hornets as Wellsboro’s only returning starters and were tasked with leading a group of inexperienced yet talented younger players.

“Considering Paige and Chloe were the only two veteran players this year .. we made great strides,” says Poirier, “We were in all but a few games for at least half the game.”

The Hornets started the season out 3-1, with wins over South Williamsport (11-11), Addison (NY) and Sayre (2-20) before dropping four straight, including a pair of single-digit losses to North Penn-Mansfield and Towanda. 

A 4-point win over Williamson led into a 53-point loss to Troy, a 20-point loss to Athens and two straight 2-point losses, to North Penn-Liberty and Cowanesque Valley. After snapping the skid with a win over Northern Potter, the Lady Hornets suffered another losing streak, dropping six straight games by an average of 21 points per loss. 

Poirier points to the Hornets final loss, to Troy, as Wellsboro’s “game of the season”.

“We were mercy-ruled the first time we played Troy,” explained Poirier, “Going into our home game, I told the girls the night before that they had nothing to lose, that we needed to play confident, be strong with the ball and have fun!”

Wellsboro led the large school champs 21-17 at the half and were down just a point going into the final quarter before losing 46-34.

“The girls were strong with the ball, confident, patient and aggressive,” says Poirier, “while not allowing Troy to intimidate us on our home court. Every player played with heart and desire while having fun. This game demonstrated how far the girls came throughout the season.”

Wellsboro was able to earn their 6th win of the season in their final game, beating Sayre for the second time. 

The Lady Hornets averaged just over 36 points per game on the season, led by Brandenburg’s 14 per game. The Houghton College commit added 4.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game and hit 47 three-pointers while shooting 72% from the free throw line.

Brandenburg finished her career with 142 threes .. second all-time in Wellsboro history, and holds the record for most 3-pointers in one game, eight, which she made in her sophomore year against Williamson.

“Chloe had her work cut out for her this season,” says Poirier, “Being a very good outside shooter, teams keyed on her all season. She was the most dedicated player that I have worked with over the last few years, putting in a tremendous amount of time in the offseason. Her dedication will be missed.”

Logsdon finished the season averaging a double-double of 10 points and 10.2 rebounds per game and added 2 assists, 1.7 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game while hitting 72% from the line. 

“Paige finished her high school career on a great note,” says Poirier, “She was strong around the basket, a good mid-range shooter and had good ball control. She was always willing to do whatever would help the team out.”

Poirier points to a group of underclassmen who received valuable experience for the Lady Hornets this season, including juniors Lily Wagner (3 rpg, 1 apg, 1.2 spg) and Sophia Yoder, sophomore Reese Regina and freshmen Teagan Novinger (6.4 points, 8 rpg), Ady Frantz (3.4 ppg, 1.7 apg), Kate Bryant and Rylee Coolidge. 

“I saw tremendous growth from the younger girls on the team,” says Poirier, “Teagan and Ady started the majority of the season and gave the team great minutes offensively and defensively .. Lily became more confident with the ball and was beginning to look like a point guard by the end of the season .. Rylee earned minutes all season playing great defense and became a mid-range scoring threat .. Kate’s shot began to fall and her confidence was up as she started scoring .. Sophia made great strides through the season and by the end was playing well defensively and looking to score and Reese was always willing to do whatever was needed for the team and led our pregame routine.”

“The future is bright for Wellsboro,” Poirier continued, “we return 7 of our 9 varsity players next year, so with a good off season, WHS will compete.”