Williamstown defeats Ritchie County, 56-38

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Here Friday night in the Class AA, Region I, Section 2 championship, host Williamstown scored the first 11 points and never looked back en route to a 56-38 triumph versus Ritchie County after the Little Kanawha Conference rivals split the regular season series with the two games being decided by five points.

Despite the loss, the third-seeded and ninth-ranked 15-9 Rebels of head coach Dave McCullough advanced to the 7 p.m. Tuesday regional co-final at St. Marys. The top-seeded Yellowjackets, who have won five straight and finished No. 4 in the final Associated Press poll, will play host to Wheeling Central the same evening with a 19-4 record.

"We sort of did the same thing in the third quarter," said WHS boss Danny Bunch, whose squad led 16-7 after one and 27-19 at the break. "We were able to come out of halftime with a 9-2 run and that was huge.

"We wanted to come out of the lockerroom there, at the beginning of the game and at halftime, to really try to set the tone, and I felt like we did that tonight."

Anna Cosner's assist to Faith Pickens, who finished with game-highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds, just 24 ticks in put the 'Jackets ahead to stay.

Arissa Burt scored the first of her 10 counters a minute later thanks to a dish from point guard Georgie Inman, who had six points, eight rebounds, five assists and a quartet of steals.

Riley Landis, who also scored in double figures with 16, followed with two foul shots and Inman made it 9-0 after a three-point play. Inman's 15-foot swishing jumper pushed the lead to 11-0 before Andrea Davis finally got the Rebels on the board with a 3.

Deuces by Rae Rupert and Rebekah Rupert, who led the Rebels with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double that featured a game-high three blocks, cut the deficit to nine after one.

Rebel fans watched Rae Rupert deflect a pass inside intended for Burt, but the ball bounced out to the free-throw line and Pickens hit nothing but net to open the second.

It was soon 25-9 after Burt converted and Pickens followed with a pair of field goals, which included a trifecta.

Rebekah Rupert was able to answer with a three-point play as the Rebels closed the period on a 10-2 spurt. Davis added a foul shot and assisted on hoops by Jayci Gray and Rebekah Rupert. Rae Rupert's bucket, which came with 1:50 still left in the half, made it 27-19.

Pickens and Landis knocked down a 3 apiece to start the third quarter as the Rebels fell behind by 14.

"It's a team we know. We've played," McCullough said of having to face the Blue Devils, who won by seven and lost by eight in the regular season. "We split with them and have a rubber match again. The shooting was ridiculous for Williamstown tonight, 19 of 36, and we had less turnovers (14-18). That kills me.

"We had 27 Tuesday night and won (at second-seeded Parkersburg Catholic). They shot really well. We didn't shoot the ball well (15 of 51). It was just one of those nights where one team is shooting really well and the other team wasn't making shots. Then it's hard to catch up when you do that."

After falling behind 36-21, the Rebels countered with six straight tallies that included a Maci Ireland make and a Marissa Jeffrey triple. Despite getting it back to single digits, WHS ran off the final seven points for a comfortable 43-27 edge entering the fourth.

Jeffrey finished with eight points in the setback. Davis had six and Gray, who had a game-high six dimes as well as a quartet of steals, added five markers.

"That was one of our points of emphasis," coach Bunch said of the rebounding battle, which his club won 36-23. "We felt like we had to keep them off the boards and I felt like they did that. Limit them to one shot.

"I'm proud of the girls. Not too many people thought they'd be here. Now, we got an LKC championship, a sectional championship and an opportunity to maybe go to Charleston on Tuesday. I'm beyond ecstatic for them."

During the regular season, the Maroon Knights left town with a narrow 69-67 victory.

"We had them early in the year and they got us here by two," added the coach. "They shot lights out when they were here. We're excited to get the second chance back at them."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com