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Madonna pulls away from young Hundred to advance

SHOOTING — Madonna’s Gab Staffileno attempts a shot over Hundred’s Mahala Britton (1) and tori Hawkins (33) during Monday’s sectional play-in game at Madonna High School. (Photo by Andrew Grimm)

WEIRTON — Some years in high school basketball a team ends up with inexperienced players and competing is sometimes a challenge. Winless Hundred is like that this year, but they showed up Monday night and played hard to the end before bowing to Madonna 78-15 in the matchup between the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds of Class A Section 1, Region 1 inside the Bill Barrett Gymnasium.

With the win, Madonna moves on to play Wheeling Central, the top seed in Section 1, Region 1, and that game will be at the John Marshall Fieldhouse today at 8 p.m. The No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, Cameron and Valley, also will meet today at 6 p.m. The winners will clash next Thursday at John Marshall and both will move on to Region 1 play but in different brackets.

The Blue Dons, now 9-11, and the Hornets, now 0-21, were set to meet in the play-in game Saturday on the JoAnna Bernabei Court, but Hundred coach Steve Dakam reported that because of illness and injuries he had only four players available on Saturday. Originally thought to be a forfeit, the game was rescheduled by the West Virginia Secondary Schools Athletic Commission.

“We didn’t have film on Hundred, but we knew their record was winless and they had struggled against many teams,” Madonna first-year coach Rodney Boniti said. “So, our situation was we had to get ready for (Tuesday), which is a matchup against the No. 2 team in the state, so it is quite a juggling act to tell our girls to play aggressive, but to coach and play with some respect and dignity for the game.

“We’ve been on a little bit of a roller coaster for the last four or five days. We thought we had the No. 3 seed locked down because of the head-to-head records and finishing third in the OVAC, but we came to find out we had the four seed. We also thought we were going to have a practice (Monday) to get ready to play Wheeling Central, which had the bye because of the top seed. We didn’t get that opportunity to prepare, but at the end of the day we’re playing Wheeling Central Tuesday at 8 p.m.”

One of the advantages Boniti got was his starters, who played less than half the game, will be a lot fresher for tonight’s game because of the easy way they won. Boniti played his varsity subs and all of his jayvee team for a good part of both halves. The Lady Dons went to the locker room at the intermission with a 38-8 lead.

“I have five freshmen and four juniors with no seniors or sophomores,” said Dakam, who has been coaching for 17 years (the last five as head coach of the Hundred girls varsity). “These freshmen have potential and down the road in a year or two we’ll be competitive. Now, though, my heart breaks for these kids. I told them after the game we have to work during the summer and get better.

“I’m still proud of them because they have worked and played hard all season. They played hard tonight clear to the final second. Like I said, we’ll work hard during the off-season and give it a shot next year. With everyone coming back and some talented players coming in from the middle school, we can get competitive next year.”

Madonna sophomore Kennedy Martin was the game’s top scorer with 13 points and she also had seven offensive rebounds. Senior Kasey Canei scored 12 points and Gia Riccadona chipped in with 10. Junior Andrea Alimario was active. She sang the National Anthem prior to the game, then had six steals. scored six points and had five rebounds.

Junior Tori Hawkins and freshman Mahalah Britton each scored five points to lead the Lady Hornets. Another junior, Emily Metz, finished with three points while freshman Kayley Davis added the other 2 points for Hundred.

Madonna 78, Hundred 15

Hundred 0-8-1-7 — 15

Madonna 19-19-23-17 — 78

HUNDRED (0-21): Britton 2 1-2 5; Davis 1 0-0 2; Metz 1 0-0 3; Hawkins 2 0-0 5; Henderson 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 6 1-2 15. 3-point goals: 2 (Metz, Hawkins); Rebounds: 21 (Britton 7); Turnovers 31.

MADONNA (9-11): Green 1 0-2 2; Riccadona 5 0-0 10; Staffileno 4 1-1 9; Battista 1 0-2 3; Mascio 1 0-1 2; Martinez 2 0-0 4; Backel 3 0-0 7; Martin 6 1-2 13; Alimario 3 0-0 6; Moore 1 1-2 3; Canei 5 2-2 12; Dowiak 3 1-2 7. TOTALS: 35 6-14 78. 3-point goals: 2 (Battista, Backel); Rebounds: 36 (Martin 7); Turnovers: 15.

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