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Gilmer County’s Amy Chapman excited for BACF game

By Jay W. Bennett 3 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Gilmer County head coach Amy Chapman will lead the Mountain State all-stars for the third time during Friday's 19th edition of the Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Basketball Classic set for a 5:30 p.m. tip on Scott Stephens Court inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center.

"Fred Sauro is going to be my assistant but Wendell is coming along too, so that will be fun," Chapman said of the Williamstown head man and her assistant coach Tomblin. "They got some height.

"They got a 6-1 girl I hear is pretty good, a lot like (Cameron's Ashlynn) Van Tassell, and they got another 6-footer. I think our tallest is 5-10. They have a little more size than us, but we've got a lot of guards."

Leading that charge is Class AA all-state captain and three-time Little Kanawha Conference Player of the Year Leslie Huffman from Parkersburg Catholic. She's the W.Va. co-captain along with Calhoun County's Josie Montgomery.

"I know pretty much all of them except for the South girls," coach Chapman said of Patriots Skylar Bosley and Hannah Wingrove. "I know their names. I've just not seen them play."

Chapman, who is 1-1 in her previous two appearances, will get to coach three of her senior Titans -- Taylor McHenry, Carrah Ferguson and Emma Taylor -- once more.

"Fred has his girl," Chapman said of Yellowjacket guard Lakyn Joy. "Fred and I spoke. We obviously want to push the tempo the whole time and get a lot of bodies on the floor and get a lot of playing time for each kid, and just offensively have good floor spacing and good movement and not a lot of standing around.

"Set some good ball screens. We want to go over keeping the floor balanced offensively. We just want to push the tempo and look for transition points. Just to be around some of these athletes I don't ever get to see or really get to know, that part is special and it's for a good cause. It's for a really good cause and that's always good."

The coach also has Calhoun County's Savannah Cunningham, Crusaderette Lainie Ross, Tyler Consolidated's Caleigh Phillips and St. Marys' Josey Moore on the roster.

"I don't have any personal experience with it, but I know it's an unfortunate disease," the coach said of cystic fibrosis. "I'm glad that there is awareness and Bill Camp puts this event on every year for awareness. It's a great cause and hats off to Bill Camp for doing this."

The last time coach Chapman paced the sidelines was in the Class A state championship game in a buzzer-beating loss to Cameron.

"It is what it is," she admitted. "I'm not going to hang my head over from that game. It was a great time. We had a great week. I'm anxious to coach again in this BACF game. Anytime I get a chance to be on the sidelines it's always a good time.

"I'm excited about it. I'm excited to be around these athletes and excited to see the Ohio girls I never get to see. Just be around all the talent and get to know these ladies. I'm excited about it."

The Buckeyes and Mountaineers enter the fray with nine wins apiece.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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