Weir High races past Oak Glen
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WEIRTON -- The resurgent Weir High girls basketball team put a complete game together for the first time this year and rolled to a 71-42 victory over Oak Glen on Monday inside the Carl R. Hamill Fieldhouse.
The Red Riders dominated in all phases of the game. They shot the basketball well, played good defense, created turnovers, limited their own turnovers, controlled the backboards and led from start to finish.
"I have said all along that if we play a game like we are capable of playing we can win games, and we did that this evening," said head coach Rick Stead, whose club has won three of its last four games and now is 4-8. "We shot well, shot three throws well (17 of 22), forced a lot of turnovers (15) and didn't turn the ball over much ourselves (nine).
"I've told these girls all along that when they play up to their potential, they can win games. They're starting to believe in themselves more. This now is the second half of the season. This is the time to get better and make your push. We want to be there when tournament time comes around."
The Red Riders ran out to a 14-10 lead in the first quarter and padded that lead to 18-10 at the start of the second on steals that resulted in run-out goals by seniors Julia Gianni and Gia Fuscardo. However, the Golden Bears, spurred by three-straight hoops from the only senior on the squad, Maggie Kovalcik, went on an 8-0 run to knot the score at 18-18 with 5:22 on the clock before halftime.
From there it was all Red Riders, as they sprinted to a 15-2 finish to the first half. They held a 33-20 advantage at the break.
With sophomore Reece Enochs nailing two straight 3-pointers, a jumper by Kovalcik and goals by Alexa Andrews and Alayna Kranis with only a layup from Gianni in return, the Golden Bears sliced the lead down to three points at 35-32.
The Red Riders, however, regrouped and finished the third quarter with a 46-36 lead. Then, Weir high outscored the Bears, 25-6, in the final eight minutes to salvage a split of the two games that the Hancock County rivals play. Oak Glen defeated Weir High, 53-48, in December.
"We had a lot of silly turnovers," Oak Glen coach Scott Wylie said. "Seemed like we threw the ball right into their hands. That's a credit to Weirton for playing good defense. Coach Stead had his team ready to play, and I didn't have our team ready. When you miss some shots, sometimes you can stay in the game a little bit, which we did, but it seemed nothing was falling tonight. It just seemed like they were ready to play, and we weren't ready to play.
"The intensity just didn't seem to be there tonight. We had it in spurts, but we couldn't sustain it for the whole game. We only had one bucket in the fourth quarter and, when that happens, you're not going to win too many games. Weir had an aggressive defense tonight, more than we were. It was a little disappointing, but we have to bounce back."
Wylie added that his club has a tough game coming up Wednesday against Madonna.
"That's our Coaches Vs. Cancer game," said Wylie, whose club now is 5-8. "We'll have some fundraisers around that game. Madonna has some height and speed. Everything you want in a team, but we're excited about that game."
Sophia Mikula had a big game for the Red Riders, popping shots from the corners. She led all scorers with 24 points, including Weir High's only two from beyond the arc. She also led the Weir High rebounders with six. There were two other Red Riders in double figures. Sophomore Isabella Aperfine had 18 points, and senior Gia Fuscardo knocked down 10.
As she has all season, Kovalcik led the Oak Glen offense with 14 points. Junior Alexa Andrews scored seven points and led the Golden Bears with seven boards.
Weir High waits until Saturday to play again when it hosts Brooke in another rivalry game. The game has been moved to a 3 p.m. jayvee start.
GAME NOTES
¯ Oak Glen salvaged a split when the reserves downed Weir High, 22-8. Rory McNutt scored eight points to lead all scorers, while Marissa Howard led Weir with 4.
¯ The 18 points scored by sophomore Aperfine is a career high. She also had five steals, two blocked shots and several assists.
Weir High 71, Oak Glen 42
Oak Glen 10-10-16-6 -- 42
Weir High 14-19-13-25 -- 71
OAK GLEN (5-8): Giorgini 2 0-2 4, Enochs 2 0-0 6, Kovalcik 6 0-1 14, Andrews 3 0-0 7, McNutt 0 2-2 2, McKay 1 3-6 5, Barganski 0 0-0 0, Kranis 1 2-4 4. TOTALS: 17 8-13 42. 3-POINT GOALS: 4 (Enochs 2, Kovalcik, Andrews); REBOUNDS: 17 (Andrews 7); TURNOVERS: 15.
WEIR HIGH (4-8): Mikula 6 10-12 24, Fuscardo 5 0-2 10, Bernola 1 1-1 3, Aperfine 8 2-2 18, Gianni 3 1-1 7, Nutter 2 1-2 5, Vuiller 0 0-0 0, Sartor 1 2-2 4. TOTALS: 26, 17-22: 71. REBOUNDS: (Mikula 6). TURNOVERS: 9.