Weir High girls stop Kovalcik-less Bears
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NEW MANCHESTER -- The Weir High girls basketball team knows its role, where to position itself and is consistent with its game plan.
During the West Virginia Class AA Region 1, Section 1 play-in contest against Oak Glen on Saturday, the Red Riders utilized their strategy to a 54-30 victory.
"This is my fourth year coaching, and this may be the smartest team I've had in terms of their IQs," Weir High head coach Rick Stead said. "We got our motor running a couple of times tonight, but they recognized the clock and slowed it down. They understand the game.
"We've done a good job all year on shot selection and shooting within ourselves. The question is if we can get them the ball or not. We've been shooting better the last three, four or five games. They just know how to come out and play."
The Golden Bears (10-13) won the first matchup, 52-44, on Dec. 10 at home. The Red Riders (7-14) took the second, 71-42, on their home court on Jan. 14.
With a chance to win the rubber match and a shot at No. 1 seed Fairmont Senior on Tuesday, Weir High was confident when it learned it would face its rival one more time.
"We were confident because we lost the first game but came back to win the second," Weir High's Gia Fuscardo said. "We played hard and always say if we can put pressure on our opponent then we will come out on top. We were a little upset we couldn't play at home, but we took it as a confidence builder."
The Red Riders jumped out to a 13-5 advantage after the opening frame. Oak Glen sprinted to a 7-0 run early in the second quarter and trailed by four. However, Weir High responded with a 10-2 run and later led by eight at halftime.
A 10-0 spurt to open the third quarter by the Red Riders essentially put the game away, as they led 39-20 midway through.
Fuscardo nearly finished with a double-double, collecting eight assists, seven rebounds and four points. Sophia Mikula recorded a game-high 18 points and grabbed five boards. Isabella Aperfine had 14 points, two rebounds and two assists. Taylor Nutter contributed eight points and 15 rebounds.
Overall, Weir High garnered 18 more rebounds (39-21) despite both teams not having a size advantage.
"A lot of that is just effort and going after it," Oak Glen head coach Scott Wiley said. "You don't have to be the biggest player to lead in rebounds. Give credit to them for going after it because we struggled to do that. We may use the excuse that we're not the biggest, but you don't have to be to get the rebounds."
For Oak Glen, it had to play without senior and leading scorer Maggie Kovalcik. She sprained her ankle and partially tore a ligament on Monday at East Liverpool. She is expected to return for track and field this spring.
"It definitely played in our favor this evening," Stead said. "But, in the second game, our kids were motivated and played so well that I don't think it would've made a difference. It would've been a closer game tonight if Maggie played. She would have caused us some problems."
Reece Enochs led the Golden Bears with 15 points. Maddie McKay collected seven rebounds and an assist. Izzy Barganski had four points and four boards. Weir High held second-leading scorer Alexa Andrews scoreless, who also dealt with foul trouble early on.
"That'll be our team for next year. You usually don't a preview of what your team will be like next year, but we got that preview," Wiley said. "We got a lot of things to work on, like getting beat by 20 points to your rival. If that doesn't get you motivated to work in the summer, then I don't know what will. I also told them that the coaches aren't going to leave, so there were positives from tonight.
"We were a little bit better than last year, but it didn't end the way we wanted it to. We knew with Maggie being out it would be a tough challenge. We've had a tough time scoring throughout the year anyway. So, with her being our only senior and our leading scorer, it made things even harder."
The Red Riders hope the third time's a charm with Fairmont Senior on Tuesday. They fell by 49 points during the first game in January, while losing 73-53 on Thursday.
"Fairmont Senior is a good basketball team, no doubt about it," Stead said. "We're going to have to play our A double-plus game, and you'll never know what's going to happen. If we go down there, stay relaxed and make it competitive, maybe we'll steal one. It's all about confidence.
"We won this game (Saturday) without playing our A game. We did stuff we shouldn't be doing this time of the year. But, I've been proud of these girls from Day 1. We are a good basketball team. We play a tough schedule on purpose to prepare us for this time of the year. Now, we go down on Tuesday to play Fairmont Senior for the third time."
GAME NOTES
¯ Mikula nearly left the game with 1:45 remaining in the third quarter. After getting fouled on a layup attempt, she came down with her head hitting the court. The Red Riders took a timeout, and she went through the concussion protocol. She cleared the test, nailed both free throws and did not sit the rest of the game.
Weir High 54, Oak Glen 30
Weir High 13-12-17-12 -- 54
Oak Glen 5-12-8-5 -- 30
WEIR HIGH (7-14): Mikula 6 5-7 18; Fuscardo 2 0-0 4; Aperfine 7 0-0 14; Gianni 2 0-0 4; Nutter 3 2-5 8; Sartor 2 0-3 4; Vuilter 0 0-0 0; Bernola 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 23, 7-15: 54.
OAK GLEN (10-13): Andrews 0 0-2 0; Giorgini 2 1-2 5; Enochs 5 3-4 15; McKay 0 1-2 1; Barganski 2 0-0 4; McNutt 1 0-0 2; Roger 1 1-2 3; Arnen 0 0-0 0; Crago 0 0-0 0; Severs 0 0-0 0; Zoelleus 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 11, 6-12: 30.
3-POINT GOALS: Weir High 1 (Mikula); Oak Glen 2 (Enochs 2). REBOUNDS: Weir High 39 (Nutter 15); Oak Glen 21 (McKay 7). ASSISTS: Weir High 12 (Fuscardo 8); Oak Glen 5 (Andrews 2). TURNOVERS: Weir High 19; Oak Glen 19.