Weir’s run ends in state quarterfinals
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CHARLESTON -- The state tournament tipped off Tuesday with teams in the AAA and AAAA classes playing quarterfinal games. No. 1 East Fairmont played No. 8 Weir in the lights of the Charleston Coliseum Tuesday afternoon.
Strong shooting from East Fairmont gave the Bees the advantage over the Red Riders, as East Fairmont defeated Weir 74-49 to advance to the semifinals.
"Glad we were able to redeem ourselves from last year," East Fairmont Head Coach James Beckman said. "Last loss this ball club has had was right here in the Civic Center against Philip Barbour in the quarterfinals... We talked about we want to make this a home for us, and the more that we're here, the more comfortable we're going to feel."
The win marks the second time in East Fairmont girls basketball history that a team won a state tournament game. The first time was in 2007 when the late Bill Malone and his Bees defeated Woodrow Wilson in overtime in the quarterfinals.
Junior Rayna Hoover led Weir with 17 points and 14 rebounds for the double-double. Senior Olivia Baker followed with 11 points and nine rebounds. Just six players total from Weir played minutes in the game.
"They've played hard all year, and they deserved to finish the game out," Weir Head Coach Rick Stead said. "These girls deserved to finish this game out by the way they played. They played hard basketball, they got out there on the floor, they got after loose balls. It's just tough when East Fairmont does a good job."
East Fairmont senior Kenly Rogers led the way to victory with 19 points, shooting seven of 21 from the floor and three for 11 from beyond the arc. Senior Tarayn Myers had 15 points and six rebounds, all offensive. Sophomore Brooklyn Shupe led the game with 18 rebounds, including 12 offensive.
"I think our energy and our effort is what makes us able to do what we do, and everyone brings it everyday," Rogers said. "We're all intense, and I've said it before, but if Coach [Beckman] asks us to do something, we want to do it for him and we want to do it for each other. We all have the same goal, and we're gonna sacrifice and do whatever we need to do."
The Bees controlled the glass, out rebounding Weir 55-48. East Fairmont grabbed 30 rebounds and scored 24 points off of them, but Beckman thought his team could have grabbed even more.
For Weir, making the state tournament culminates a turnaround in the program. Just two years ago, the Red Riders went 4-19. It became a bittersweet moment in the loss, but still sweet nonetheless.
"Four and 19 two years ago to now make it to state tournament, clearly we've grown and we've started to play together," Hoover said. "We're all very close too. It's like getting to come down on a trip with your best friends."
Weir also managed to mute East Fairmont's press defense during the game, something opponents struggled against East Fairmont previously this season. It didn't stop East Fairmont from forcing 24 turnovers and getting 33 points off of turnovers, however.
East Fairmont ran off to an 11-3 lead early in the first quarter, with Myers making eight of those points for the Bees. Weir fought back and got within four points multiple times, but East Fairmont began to run away with it and led 24-13 at the end of the quarter.
Weir cut the deficit down to seven points slowly to begin the second quarter. East Fairmont responded by going on an 8-0 run to get back the points it lost in its lead. By halftime, East Fairmont held a 40-24 advantage over Weir.
Like the second quarter, Weir clawed its way to within 10 points of East Fairmont to begin the third quarter, but it didn't last. East Fairmont went on a 16-0 run and distanced itself from Weir even further. Entering the fourth quarter, East Fairmont led 65-38.
With the game in hand, East Fairmont focused on managing the lead and coasting to victory. When all was said and done, East Fairmont clinched the victory 74-49 over Weir. It's another box checked off on the list of goals East Fairmont had at the beginning of the season.
"Obviously there's a lot of goals we had for this year," Myers said. "Win conference, win section, win region. It was just another goal of ours to get back here, get a win, keep going until the end. Our team does a lot of little things to add up to one big thing. I think that we just wanted it really bad."
East Fairmont continues its undefeated season, improving to 25-0 overall. The Bees plays the winner of the No. 4 Lewis County and No. 5 Philip Barbour game next. The semifinal game tips off on Thursday.