Despite game-high 20 from Hart, Hornell builds double-digit halftime lead to hold, go past Wellsville with 50-40 Opening Night win
WELLSVILLE — It’s been a long, two month wait for sports to make its comeback underneath the high school spotlight. Monday night was game one of, hopefully, many basketball games to get underway in a shortened 2021 season.
On the slate first? A good old fashioned rivalry between Hornell and Wellsville that had a very different look this time around. Instead of the bleachers being filled to the brims with fans from each town, there were no spectators in attendance for the season-opening game, due to COVID-19 continuing to take the world by storm.
An odd sight within one of basketball’s biggest local showdowns.
But even with no fans, the visiting Red Raiders were able to get off to a strong start in a first half that saw the Lions finish strong. With a double digit lead in hand heading back to the locker room, Hornell was able to fend off Wellsville in the second half with a 50-40 victory.
“We had a terrible start to a first game that we just couldn’t overcome,” said Lions coach Raymie Auman. “We played better as the game went on, but we had way too many turnovers and we possessed a lack of discipline and urgency as far as rebounding the ball as a team. It hurt us, but we did a lot of positive things. We can really have potential if we can stay focused.”
The Red Raiders got off to a 15-7 lead after the first quarter to establish their ground in the driver’s seat. Later on, both offenses heated up with their strongest efforts of the evening coming in the second quarter with both AJ Hoyt’s three-ball and Gennaro Pico’s 6-for-6 efficiency at the charity stripe leading Hornell.
For Wellsville (0-1), it was Aidan Hart leading the charge from within the perimeter, netting 11 of his game-high 20 points. The host Lions would end the first half of play with a scoreless 7-0 run of Hornell to cut their deficit to 34-22.
The deficit would come down to nine after the third, but Hornell remained one step further ahead of Wellsville when the final buzzer sounded, as they came away with the 10-point road win.
Behind Hart for the Lions, Liam McKinley and Brayden Delahunt provided some more scoring with eight, and six points respectively.
Next up, Wellsville will hit the road for their first away game of the season, as they prepare to visit the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines in a 7:30 p.m. contest on Wednesday.
Hornell 15 19 5 11 – 50
Wellsville 7 15 8 10 – 40
HORNELL: Gennaro Pico 3 7-9 13, Gates Miller 2 0-0 4, Jackson White 4 4-6 14, Jonas Sciotti 0 1-3 1, AJ Hoyt 4 0-0 12, Griffyn Baker 1 1-2 4, Eli Dunn 1 0-0 2. Totals: 15 13-20 50.
WELLSVILLE: Tyler Sands 2 0-0 4, Alex Perkins 1 0-0 2, Liam McKinley 3 0-0 8, Aidan Hart 9 2-4 20, Brayden Delahunt 3 0-3 6. Totals: 18 2-7 40.
3-point goals: Hornell 7 (Hoyt 4,White 2, Baker), Wellsville 2 (McKinley).
Total Fouls: Hornell 11, Wellsville 18. Fouled out: None.
