×

Oak Glen girls ousted by Fairmont

Oak Glen's Dominica Price (24) and Emily Severs (21) and Fairmont Senior's Kayla Antonk (12), Zyaira Little (44) and Anysa Jordan (12) go for a loose ball during a high school basketball game Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017, in Fairmont, W.Va. (Tammy Shriver/Times West Virginian via AP)

FAIRMONT — With a Region I, Section 2 final matchup against rival North Marion looming in its peripheral vision, Fairmont Senior placed Oak Glen in the rear view by a score of 90-25 Tuesday at the Fairmont Senior High School Field House.

“You want to get your team in the moment, but it’s really hard not to look ahead, especially at one of your cross-town rivals, who you play every year three and four times a year,” FSHS coach Corey Hines said. “That’s what I liked about today; we brought the intensity from the beginning. We didn’t give them a chance to really start believing.”

FSHS ticked through its check list and could’ve received a gold star for the category of steals as the Polar Bears snagged 26 of them en route to forcing 37 total turnovers and feasting on transition opportunities.

The live-ball miscues by Oak Glen were a boon to Fairmont Senior’s shooting which checked in at 45.1 percent on a whopping 82 attempts, affording enough opportunities for every FSHS player to score a bucket. Even when the Polar Bears did miss, such possessions still produced a fruitful return as the team bludgeoned Oak Glen on the glass with 25 offensive rebounds, racking up point-blank put-backs by the gross.

Eria Bowles, who led FSHS with 20 points on 6-for-16 shooting, totaled four offensive rebounds from her guard spot along with four steals. Abby Stoller and Anysa Jordan combined for nine offensive rebounds, while Stoller added 13 points and five steals and Jordan pitched in 10 points.

Bowles, Stoller and Jordan were joined in the double-digit club by DeLorenzo and Morgan Lilley, who had 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Oak Glen, meanwhile, struggled to even put up shots against FSHS’s half-court traps and posted grim efficency when they did, going just 8-of-34 for 23.5 percent from the floor, including a 1-for-10 mark in the first quarter, where FSHS led 17-4 before taking a 37-13 advantage into the half.

In the third quarter, the Polar Bears exploded for 28 points during a flurry of steals and breakaway layups to go up 67-19 heading into the fourth.

Courtney Wilfong, who scored six points and accumulated a game-high five assists, and Kayla Antonk, who had eight points, spent much of the period zipping into passing lanes and slapping away dribbles.

Wilfong finished the game with five steals, while Antonk gathered three.

For the Golden Bears, 1,000-point club member Maisie Witherow scored 12 points and Dominica Price added five.

As the game continued with the fourth quarter winding down, FSHS’s vision slowly began creeping toward its meeting with North Marion scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday at the FSHS Field House.

Fairmont Senior 90, Oak Glen 25

Fairmont Senior: Bowles 6 7-8 20, Stoller 6 0-0 13, Jordan 5 0-0 10, DeLorenzo 4 1-2 10, Lilley 5 0-0 10, Antonk 4 0-0 8, Wilfong 2 1-2 6, Hilson 2 0-0 5, Faulkner 1 0-0 3, Little 1 1-2 3, King 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 35 10-14 90. 3-pointers: Bowles, DeLorenzo, Faulkner, Stoller, Wilfong, Hilson.

Oak Glen: Witherow 3 5-7 12, Price 2 1-1 5, Kovalcik 1 0-0 2, McKay 1 0-0 2, Grotefend 1 0-0 2, Andrews 0 2-2 2, Giorgini 0 0-1 0, Severs 0 0-0 0, Travis 0 0-0 0, Orenzuk 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 8 8-11 25. 3-pointers: Witherow.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today