St. Marys senior Addie Davis, who had game-highs of 17 points, four steals and three blocks in the Blue Devils' 57-37 Class AA state quarterfinal victory Tuesday afternoon inside the Charleston Coliseum, tries to swipe the ball away from Ritchie County's Rae Rupert (21) after the Rebel received a handoff from teammate Ava Satterfield (24) as Laney Watkins (11) looks on. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

CHARLESTON — Here Tuesday afternoon in a Class AA state quarterfinal at the Charleston Coliseum it was second-seeded St. Marys which led from start to finish versus No. 7 Ritchie County en route to a 57-37 victory and the 20th win of the campaign for head coach Fred King’s Pleasants County program.

“We have a very selfless team,” said coach King of his squad, which had 19 assists and 10 turnovers. “They think about their teammates. They’re very close. All the outings and get-togethers, it’s a great bunch of kids. They seem to mesh very well and it’s because we have good leadership. They make sure that happens and I credit our seniors for that.”

Blue Devil Callie Powell collected the first of her game-high 10 assists five seconds after the opening tip thanks to an Addie Davis lay-in.

“It’s exciting, just like me, Callie, Linsie (Asher) we’ve had experience down here before, but it’s such a nice feeling being back, especially one last time,” admitted Davis, who led the Blue Devils with 17 points as well as game-highs of four steals and three blocks. “I would not trade this team for anything. I think we’re going to have a great day tomorrow of practice just preparing and getting ready for the rest of the week.”

Ritchie County, which was in the big dance for the first time since 2017, then watched Davis score again via a Brynnley Bulluck dime and then connect for a 3 before a Bulluck steal and layup made it 9-0 just 2:34 in.

Ritchie County sophomore Elsa Law, who hit 7 of 13 from deep and had a game-high double-double featuring 27 points and 10 rebounds, makes a pass to the wing as St. Marys' Landrey Riggs defends during the Blue Devils' 57-37 Class AA state quarterfinal victory Tuesday afternoon inside the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We come out a little bit tight and tense it felt like the first few minutes there,” admitted Rebel boss Dave McCullough, whose club finished 16-8. “They got a 9-0 run on us and we had to take that timeout early. “We come out and played pretty solid from then on. We just had lulls today. We’re a young group and to be honest with you I’m really excited for the future of Ritchie County basketball and where we are going to be down the road.”

Sophomore Elsa Law made her first appearance in Charleston a memorable one, albeit a loss. The point guard drained 7 of 13 from beyond the arc en route to a game-high 27 points. SMHS, which had advantages of 34-6 in the paint, 19-3 on points off turnovers and 16-0 on the fastbreak, finished even with the Rebels on the boards at 33 apiece. Law had a game-high 10 while lone Rebel senior Rae Rupert pulled down eight, had two assists and finished with five points.

“I want to congratulate my team for playing very hard,” said coach King to open the postgame press conference. “We played a lot of combinations today and had a chance to get everyone on the floor. I want to thanks these three people here (Addie Davis, Brynnley Bulluck, Callie Powell) for being leaders out there and doing, taking care of business, and I want to also give some shoutouts and kudos to coach McCullough and his team. They played very well. They were well prepared and Elsa is a heck of a player, but so are we and we’ve got about four or five like that which makes us a little bit better.”

A pair of 3s by Law as well as an Ava Satterfield deuce closed the deficit to 18-11 after one. Despite a Law triple to open the second, the four-point margin was as close as RCHS could get as Bulluck answered with a trey and then knocked down a 19-0 foot jumper to help the Blue Devils to a 29-16 halftime advantage that reached 47-26 entering the final eight minutes.

Bulluck went for 16 points and eight caroms while Powell had eight markers. Laney Watkins had 10 points, five boards, two steals and two assists while St. Marys teammate Anna Bennett had six points, eight rebounds as well as a pair of thefts and as many dimes. St. Marys will look to punch its ticket to Saturday’s state final if the Blue Devils can improve to 21-4 and defeat third-seeded Charleston Catholic at 11:15 a.m. Thursday. The Irish ousted Logan, 45-35.

St. Marys’ Anna Bennett (2) contests a shot by Ritchie County’s Elsa Law during Tuesday’s Class AA state quarterfinal game at the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I feel like our team is really good at watching film. We’ll go to a game or we’ll watch film or we’ll find film, but we’re always working on skills and like our plays at practice to keep us fresh,” said Bulluck, who hit 7 of 14 from the floor, of having one day to prep for the third-seeded Irish (18-6). Coach McCullough’s squad shot 28.9% (13 of 45) and finished with five assists. “They really tightened up their man defense,” admitted the Rebel boss, who couldn’t get Rupert or Emily Bush going underneath. “It seemed like they were really on help trying to keep us from getting to the paint.

“That kind of led to us getting a few turnovers and shooting more perimeter shots than we kind of needed to. Didn’t get enough shots inside that we’d like to have gotten tonight.”

Jeffrey played 27 minutes for the Rebels in her first state tournament appearance, but despite the loss and failing to score she viewed the experience as a positive, especially having Rupert as a teammate.

“Rae’s always been there for us from the beginning. Today I struggled,” Jeffrey admitted. “I struggled a lot shooting, but they never let me quit. Rae never let me quit.

“She was there patting me on the back telling me ‘we got to keep going’ and I think that’s what kept me going today. It’s probably one of the favorite teams I think I’ve been on. It’s definitely family.”

Ritchie County’s Chelsie Jeffrey comes up with a loose ball against St. Marys during Tuesday’s Class AA state quarterfinal game at the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Rupert echoed those thoughts and was glad she returned to the Rebels for her senior campaign after a one-year hiatus.

“It was really great soaking it all up. I’ve came so far from my freshman year until now. It’s just crazy,” Rupert said. “The feeling is really great because my older sister, Rebekah Rupert, she’s playing at (W.Va.) Wesleyan, but like she never got to play down at states so I can brag to her.

“She might’ve got all-state like three times, but she never came down here. It’s a great feeling. She can say she got all-state, but she never came down and played because she didn’t have a team. We have a family.”

For Powell, the senior guard knows her team has to leave everything on the floor come Thursday and the Blue Devils aren’t planning on making any changes. I just feel like getting out and running,” said Powell, who had two steals and two boards. “We’re a really fast team so like Addie and I told the girls before the game literally just get out and run and push the ball, and that’s how like Laney Watkins, she’ll get her fastbreak layups. Anna Bennett is super fast. Brynnley is fast and we all just push ourselves and get those easy assists like that. Our girls are going to make their layups, usually.”

Law, who didn’t come out of the game, had just four turnovers and hit 10 of 21 overall.

Ritchie County’s Ava Satterfield beats St. Marys’ Landrey Riggs to a loose ball during Tuesday’s Class AA state quarterfinal game at the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“This experience has been really good,” Law said. “It’s been great with Rae because she helps us on the court a lot with the rebounds, scoring, anything we really need that day, but also like mentally.

“She’s always there for us like before the games and everything. She had a speech today and she’s always there keeping our heads up.”

Charleston Catholic only led by one entering the fourth against Logan, but pulled away behind Mary Rushworth’s 13 points and Molly Messer’s dozen. Nora Aliff chipped in seven points and 10 rebounds as the Irish blocked eight shots.

“The next challenge is going to be a challenge. Charleston Catholic is a very good basketball team,” stressed coach King. “They are soccer players. They got legs on them the size of basketballs and they are not afraid to get up in your grill. “I mean we got to take care of the basketball. If it’s out there, that’s low hanging fruit for them.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Ritchie County head coach Dave McCullough looks on during Tuesday’s Class AA state quarterfinal game against St. Marys at the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

St. Marys’ Brynnley Bulluck comes away with a steal during Tuesday’s Class AA state quarterfinal game against Ritchie County at the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

St. Marys’ Callie Powell, left, head coach Fred King, center, and Addie Davis look on during the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s Class AA state quarterfinal game against Ritchie County at the Charleston Coliseum. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)