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Big first half drains Madonna girls

MOUNDSVILLE — It took West Virginia Class A power Wheeling Central 2:25 of the first quarter to get on the scoreboard Tuesday night at the John Marshall Fieldhouse, but once the No. 2 ranked Maroon Knights got going there was nothing Madonna could do to slow them down.

Senior Taylor Duplaga scored a game-high 17 points, including eight in the second quarter off four consecutive Blue Dons’ turnovers, and Wheeling Central used first half runs of 23-1 and 20-0 during the opening two quarters enroute to a 57-30 victory in a W.Va. Region One, Section One girls’ semifinal affair.

The victory puts Head Coach Penn Kurtz’ 20-2 record squad into Friday night’s 7 p.m. sectional championship against 21-1 Cameron back in Moundsville. With wins last night both the Maroon Knights and Dragons, who each captured Ohio Valley Athletic Conference titles this season, are guaranteed a berth in next week’s Region One tournament.

“Obviously we want to win every game, but this is a big win in that no matter what happens Friday night we will be playing in the regional tournament,” Kurtz said with a smile.

Coach Rodney Boniti’s Dons (10-12) came out strong to begin the game, scoring the initial four points of the contest while Central missed its first four shots. However, all it took was one basket, this one coming at the 6:35 mark from Duplaga, to allow the Knights to put on the press and start forcing turnovers.

After needing 2:25 to dent the scoreboard, Central scored 12 points, mostly off Madonna miscues, in the ensuing 1:17. After a Casey Canei charity toss stopped the scoreless run Kurtz’ crew scored the final seven points of the first quarter and the first four of the second to close what turned into a game-deciding 23-1 spurt.

The Blue Dons made it a 25-10 on a Carly Dowiak field goal with 5:08 to play in the half, but with Duplaga and her mates continually forcing turnovers, the Maroon Knights finished on a 20-0 run to take a commanding 45-10 lead to the locker room.

In all during the initial 16 minutes of play, Wheeling Central had two huge runs, forced 21 Weirton Madonna turnovers and connected on 18 field goals, while the Blue Dons had only a mere 17 total field goal attempts during that span.

“Once we scored and was able to get into our half-court set we started taking the ball away, extending the press and scoring in transition, and that really changed the game,” Kurtz said. “They went big early on which caused us a few problems, but once Kaylee Reinbeau in the game things turned around.

“I felt like everyone did a very good job in transition, and Taylor (Duplaga) and Hannah (White) did a nice job pushing the ball, but we need to work some more on our half-court execution.”

With the game well in hand, Central starters were on the court for limited action in the third quarter before becoming spectators for the remainder of the contest. That helped spark a 17-0 Madonna run that saw the Knights go scoreless from the 2:27 mark of the third period until a pair of hoops in the last 28 seconds of the game.

Reinbeau added 12 points and a team-high six rebounds for Central while Eden Gainer, playing for the first since injuring her shoulder before Christmas, added seven. The Maroon Knights had a slim 29-28 edge off the glass and turned the ball over 19 times, most coming in the fourth quarter, to 30 for Madonna.

Dowiak and Andrea Alimario evenly divided 14 points to lead the Blue Dons while Kennedy Martin added five.

“Anytime you turn the ball over that many times against the No. 2 team in the state bad things are going to happen,” Boniti said. “I’m not real sure how many turnovers they forced and how many were on us, but there were a lot.

“Wheeling Central’s intensity is unbelievable and most of those girls have been playing together for so long. They close to the ball so quickly, play great help-side defense and are just very disciplined.”

Kurtz, meanwhile, knows that his squad has a big task Friday night against the Dragons.

“Cameron is a very good basketball team,” Kurtz said. “Meintel is as good as they get in the post and Walker is a very good, very strong player at guard. They gave us fits in the sectional final for three quarters last year. Hopefully we will be able to pressure them and keep it on.

Wheeling Central 57, Weirton Madonna 30

Weirton Madonna 5-5-5-15 — 30

Wheeling Central 19-26-8-4 — 57

WM – Riccadonna 1-4 0-2 2; Mascio 0-2 0-0 0; Martin 2-2 1-2 5; Canei 1-5 1-2 3; Alimario 3-13 1-2 7; Staffileno 0-5 4-6 4; Dowiak 3-6 1-5 7; Backel 0-1 0-0 0; Martinez 0-0 0-0 0; Battista 0-2 2-2 2; Moore 0-0 0-0 0; Green 0-0 0-0 0; Lenhart 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 10-40 10-21 30.

WC-Gainer 3-9 0-0 7; Ferns 1-1 0-0 2; Bennington 2-4 0-0 4; Duplaga 8-12 1-1 17; H.White 3-6 0-0 7; Reinbeau 4-6 4-4 12; Blaha 0-0 0-0 0; Saunders 0-3 2-2 2; T.White 1-2 0-0 2; Horan 2-3 0-0 4; Fahey 0-3 0-0 0; Nixon 0-3 0-0 0; Davidson 0-1 0-0 0; Bailer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-51 7-7 57.

3-POINT GOALS: Gainer, H.White.

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