Breaking News
Local Sports

Williamstown routs Ravenswood to open regional play

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

WILLIAMSTOWN -- The rubber match for Wednesday night's showdown in St. Marys is set after host and third-seeded Williamstown took care of business here Friday evening via a 61-20 victory versus sixth-seeded Ravenswood in a Class AA, Region I semifinal.

Williamstown, which is ranked second in the state, now will travel to No. 2 seed St. Marys as the Blue Devils entered the week ranked third in the Mountain State.

Ravenswood freshman Rachel Lambert, who had a game-high five blocked shots, put the visitors of head coach Cara Williams up 1-0 just 29 ticks into the affair, but the Yellowjackets led 18-1 after one and cruised to a 42-6 halftime bulge.

"A week is a long time," admitted WHS boss Danny Bunch of his 18-5 program, which last played at home on senior night and upended No. 1, Class A Gilmer County. "We know Ravenswood is a young team and they are a little down this year just because of their youth. I knew they would come in and play hard.

"We felt like we were the better team and I just sort of challenged my girls that we had to go out there in the first half and prove that we were. I felt like we really, defensively, did that. We got up pretty big on them, but that happens. I felt like we were ready to play. You had to play them (the starters) a little bit there in the second half. We hadn't played in a week and at this point that's a long time."

Annabelle Haught's assist to Gracie Montgomery just 14 seconds after the foul shot put the 'Jackets ahead for good.

Faith Pickens led WHS with a game-high 17 points. Montgomery scored a baker's dozen, Bunch added 12 while Arissa Burt had 10 markers and was a carom shy of a double-double.

Bunch, who tied teammate Makaela Bandy and Ravenswood's Riley Street for game-high steal honors with three, had a theft and a lay-in to make it 7-1 after Burt converted twice at the free-throw line.

Ravenswood, which finished 7-16 and got six points from Street and four by Marley Cole, trailed 9-1 after Burt knocked down a 15-foot jumper. Following a deuce by Pickens, Haught hit from deep, Burt added two more charity stripe tosses and one more field goal by Haught put the visitors down by 17.

Although Jayden Moore converted two at the foul line to open the second, which cut the deficit to 15, the 'Jackets tallied 24 of the next 25 points.

"I know Williamstown was ultra motivated. I'm sure they want to get back to St. Marys after St. Marys was in the Night of Champions," said coach Williams, who got a team-high six boards from Kadi Price. "I knew that was a motivator for them to come out and play well, and they did. This team, they are a great bunch of girls. We didn't have the wins we thought we would or should've this year. I mean our statistics were not great and we were in a lot of games. We were right there to potentially win some games. They are a great group of girls. Always came with a great attitude and ready to work and try to get better.

"I've been dealing with some personal issues this year at home and they were really good for me to come and just have a good attitude and give me a little break. Kind of a different focus. At the end of the day you want to have a good season, but you hope that you have a good group that comes and works hard everyday regardless of what the outcome is and they did that. I love all of them. Proud of our seniors, Riley and Kadi (and foreign exchange student Sofia Garcia). They battled all year. It was definitely a different vibe for them after coming up with last year's team and being a part of that with the success of those girls. They kind of had to take a lot on themselves with a young crew so it was a big task and they did a good job for us this year."

Williamstown, which shot 7 of 14 from beyond the arc and forced 21 RHS turnovers in the first half, got five points from Haught along with a bucket apiece from Anna Cosner and Peyton Woodburn.

"That's probably the only good thing about getting the three seed is us getting that game tonight," added coach Bunch. "If we didn't get it we weren't going to play for a week and a half, almost two weeks, and that's huge this time of year. Unfortunately we got to go to St. Marys. It should be a good ballgame. Two good teams going at it.

"I'm looking forward to it and we'll just get ready to play. Obviously you want to see the best teams down at Charleston and unfortunately I feel like we have three of the best teams in our region and one of us is going to get left home. We hate it, but it is what it is and there's nothing we can do about it. We just got to go play."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Starting at /week.