Parkersburg Pipeline: Fairmont State women’s basketball team includes four area players
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MORGANTOWN -- As a high school all-stater, Parkersburg Catholic High School graduate Leslie Huffman's forte was creating openings while driving down the lane and getting a high percentage shot.
Now that she is a college freshman, the traffic pattern has changed. Penetrating the lane is quite chaotic as she found out in in her debut with Fairmont State during an exhibition game Sunday against West Virginia University in Morgantown.
"I'm used to being one of the tallest players on the floor aside from a few post players, but to have everyone towering over you it's definitely something I'm not used to," Huffman said. "Normally, you expect to get those body fouls. Then you come up to this higher level and as long as your hands are straight up in the air and not creating contact, you are not getting any calls.
"It's just an adjustment. We play teams like that all year round, it's probably a different story."
A total of four former players from the Mid-Ohio Valley made the trip as members of the FSU women's basketball team, which lost to WVU, 83-49. Leslie Huffman's older sister, Madeline, is a junior and starting at point guard for the Falcons. Sophomore Aaliyah Brunny showed her range against the Mountaineers and knocked down three 3-pointers as part of her team-high 11 points.
Parkersburg High School graduate Bre Wilson did not dress. The junior suffered an ACL injury for the second time in her career, and is out for the 2022-23 season.
"It's very frustrating just because I've went through it before, and to go through it another time is not any more fun than the first time," Wilson said. "I just have to get through this year and come back next year.
"It means a lot just to be here. I love watching my teammates play. I enjoy being able to be here and support them."
In the preseason, league coaches from the Mountain East Conference picked the Falcons to finish fourth following last year's 15-13 overall finish.
"To me, preseason rankings mean nothing," said Stephanie Anderson, who enters her fourth season as the FSU head coach and her ninth season overall with the program. "I'm more worried about what we are doing on a day-to-day basis. I love where our team is at today and I can't wait to see what we do moving forward."
As for the Parkersburg pipeline coach Anderson has established, she figures as long as this area continues to produce college prospects she will continue to scour local talent.
"That area has been fantastic to us -- pulling four kids from there is rare," Anderson said. "All four are awesome players for us. It's been great for us and I hope it keeps happening."
Anderson is a former player at California University of Pennsylvania. The players feel a connection with the coaching staff because they are able to create a family atmosphere.
"Stephanie makes it so much easier to communicate," Brunny said.
"Her youthful presence and the energy she brings make us very close," Wilson added. "It makes it easier to talk to each other."
FSU opens the regular season at home against Winston-Salem State University on Friday, Nov. 11 for the first day of the Atlantic Region Women's Basketball Crossover. On Saturday, the Falcons meet Clarion University.
"It's fun playing basketball no matter where it is," said Leslie Huffman, who scored five points and added three rebounds off the bench against WVU. "It's definitely a step up from high school, but there were no expectations today and we were just allowed to come out and have fun. It's a great experience to be able to do this with your teammates."
Leslie has again joined forces with Madeline. The Huffman sisters played two seasons together at Parkersburg Catholic High School and now they share the maroon colors from FSU. Madeline started all 28 games last season for the Falcons and averaged 6.0 points and 2.9 assists per game.
"Defense and rebounding will be a key for us going forward," Madeline Huffman said. "We tried to key on that the past couple of years but weren't as successful as we wanted to be. This year, we have bought into the intensity that Stephanie has been preaching for the past three years."
Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com