Weir High responds, fends off Oak Glen
Red Riders advance to sectional final, earn a trip to regional
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WEIRTON -- Experience makes a big difference late in tournament games.
After seemingly having lost all the momentum and watched a 16-point lead dwindle to two, Weir High's more experienced group did not panic and dug deep.
The Red Riders, having taken the best shot from youthful Oak Glen, then scored the final 11 points -- the last six-straight coming from Janai Turner at the foul line -- to survive and advance with a 45-32 victory in a Class AAA Region 1, Section 1 semifinal on Tuesday night.
"I'm proud of the way the girls responded after they cut it down to (two)," Weir High head coach Rick Stead said. "They stayed in there, played defense and attacked the basket. They made some shots when we needed to. Janai made some big foul shots at the end. We've got good kids and they stepped up when they had to.
"We made some mistakes, we put ourselves in a situation where it was closer than it needed to be, but the girls stayed with it and kept working."
With the win, which is the Red Riders (12-11) fifth in their last six games and third of the season over their county rivals, Weir advances to Friday's sectional final at North Marion and will advance to the Region 1 tournament next week.
"It's tough to beat a team three times, especially when it's your sectional rival," Stead said. "I knew Ryan (Wells) would have his girls ready, they're young but they're quick and they hustle.
"We didn't do a good job of shooting at times, we made some bad passes and turnovers that hurt us. We had some chances (to pull away) and didn't take advantage, but give credit to Oak Glen, they played really hard.
"I've said from the beginning of the year these girls had the ability … the second half of the season they've started to take off. We've played really well the last five games or so, we had a couple hiccups tonight but we'll put it behind us and head down to North Marion, give it our best shot for a sectional title and go to regionals.
"I think we can do it, I think we can get to the state tournament. It's one game at a time. It's the second season and we're 1-0 in it, the saying goes we want to go 1-0 one more time."
Turner netted a game-high 16 points, 10 of which came in the second half including an 8 for 8 showing from the line down the stretch. Malea Faulks netted 10 and Rayna Hoover eight.
The Red Riders jumped ahead 15-8 after one and led 23-13 at halftime after a push before the break, and pushed that advantage to as many as 16 in the third quarter.
Oak Glen (8-14), though, was not ready to go away and rallied with a 9-2 run to get the margin back to single digits late in the third.
Weir added a couple late buckets to lead 34-22 going to the fourth, but went the first five-plus minutes of the quarter without a bucket as Oak Glen scored 10-straight to make it a 34-32 game with a little more than three minutes to play.
From there, though, it was all Red Riders.
"I really thought when we took the momentum and cut it to two, we were going to get rolling, but that just shows the varsity experience Weir has," Wells said. "For most of our girls, it was the first time they played in a sectional basketball game. We were young all over the place for a big game like this.
"Compared to the last time we played them, our adjustments worked and they played hard. I'm proud of them. They didn't quit down 16. But, a lot of credit to Weir for sticking to their game plan and not hitting the panic button. They tightened things down and did what they do. Experience versus non-experience is tough sometimes.
"I hope Weir goes to Charleston, our girls all know each other and we'll be rooting for them."
The Golden Bears, who played sophomore and freshmen for most of the game as senior Kami Ward remained sidelined for health reasons and senior Natasha Ward was limited due to an injury, were led by three treys and 13 points from Haylee Clark.
"We had freshmen on the floor with sophomores, our jayvee team was undefeated, the future is bright for us," Wells said. "Losing Kami and Natasha is tough, Kami led us in every category and Natasha stepped up for us. Natasha and Kami led everything we do, losing two seniors like that is really tough. They were our leaders. Kami and Natasha gave us everything they had. It's going to be a huge void for us to fill.
"We have some young girls that are going to have to step up into leadership roles they just weren't quite ready for this year."
WVSSAC Class AAA Region 1, Section 1
No. 2 Weir High 45, No. 3 Oak Glen 32
Oak Glen 5-8-9-10 – 32
Weir High 15-8-11-11 – 45
OAK GLEN (8-14): Ward 0 0-0 0; Vick 1 3-5 5; Craig 2 0-0 4; McConnachie 0 0-0 0; Clark 5 0-0 13; Balch 4 0-1 8; Everett 0 0-0 0; Carney 0 0-0 0; Stewart 0 2-2 2. TOTALS: 12, 5-8; 32.
WEIR HIGH (12-11): Baker 2 0-0 4; Kaufman 2 0-0 5; Turner 3 9-12 16; Lash 1 0-0 2; Faulks 4 2-4 10; Hoover 3 2-3 8. TOTALS: 15, 13-19; 45.
3-POINT GOALS: Oak Glen 3 (Clark 3); Weir High 2 (Kaufman, Turner).