The Smethport Hubbers will be playing at home against the Northern Potter Panthers at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday. Given that both teams suffered a loss in their last game, they both have a little extra motivation heading into this matchup.
While it was all tied up 21-21 at halftime, Smethport was not quite Port Allegany's equal in the second half on Thursday. Smethport fell 47-37 to Port Allegany. While losing is never fun, Smethport can't take it too hard given the team's big disadvantage in MaxPreps' Pennsylvania basketball rankings (they are ranked 267th, while Port Allegany is ranked 133rd).
Despite the loss, Smethport saw an underclassman step up: Payton Neff scored 17 points along with 5 rebounds. Neff scored a full 45.9% of Smethport's points, the second time in a row she's earned more than a third of the team's points. Ava Gifford was another key contributor, scoring 9 points.
Meanwhile, Northern Potter was within striking distance but couldn't close the gap on Saturday as they fell 26-21 to Wellsville. Northern Potter has struggled against Wellsville recently, as their game on Saturday was their third consecutive lost matchup.
Their wins bumped Smethport to 1-4 and Port Allegany to 3-1.
Smethport came up short against Northern Potter when the teams last played back in January, falling 39-33. Will Smethport have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get analysis of the match and other basketball content.
