Riders pull away to win city championship
Weir High gets off to fast start against Madonna to finish regular season strong
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WEIRTON -- The Weir girls' basketball team had reason to celebrate Monday night.
Weir jumped out to a big lead against city-rival Madonna, and the Red Riders did not look back en route to a 62-29 victory to win the city championship on senior night Monday night on Ron "Fritz" Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse.
"It is always good whenever you win the city championship," Weir (8-13) head coach Rick Stead said. "They took the sectional away from us, so this is something to look forward to.
"Our kids played hard. Madonna's kids played hard."
The Red Riders built a 15-2 advantage at the end of the first quarter on their way to the big win.
"We struggled to shoot the ball in the first half," Madonna (7-13) head coach Cory Wingett said. "When we dig a hole that deep, it is a challenge for us to get out of it. In the second half, you did not see a single girl in blue give up. We played better in the second half. We just dug ourselves too big a hole."
The victors extended their advantage to 31-7 at halftime.
"We have played man-to-man all year, but tonight we came out and played a zone press," Stead said. "We played a 1-3-1. We utilized that. We have a lot of young girls, and once I saw there was some confusion, we went back to playing man."
Madonna senior standout Christany Bartley, who has signed to play basketball at Washington & Jefferson, went down with an ankle injury with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter. Bartley stayed down on the court for a couple of minutes before being helped up and taken off the court.
"I hope Chris is OK," Wingett said. "It is an ankle injury. She is our only senior. I just hope it is nothing serious.
"For years, we struggled to win games. We were in a rebuilding phase. Our young girls did a good job of keeping the program going. We made a jump with them. Then, we added her to the mix, and we have been competitive since then. We have been extremely competitive the last couple of years."
Bartley hit a 3-pointer less than two minutes before going down with an injury while playing defense. The 3 was her only points of the night.
The Red Riders increased their advantage to 49-12 entering the fourth.
"We wanted to maintain our lead," Stead said. "We were able to get out and score in transition. Once we were up, we wanted to maintain the lead. If you have a bad night offensively, it is going to make for a long evening."
The girls in blue outscored the hosts, 17-13, in the fourth to account for the final score.
"Give credit to Weir," Wingett said. "They shot the ball really well. We played four different defenses. When they shoot the ball like that, they are a tough out."
Rayna Hoover recorded a game-high 27 points to lead the way offensively for Weir, while Liliana Ascencio tallied 11 points and Maleea Faulks finished with 10.
Madi Owens netted a team-high nine points to lead Madonna, while Addy Welsh collected seven.
Weir honored its two seniors – Hoover and Faulks before the game.
Madonna – the No. 6 seed – is scheduled to play No. 3 seed Magnolia in a Class A Region 1 Semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday night on the road.
Weir – the No. 4 seed – will play No. 5 seed North Marion in a Class AAA Region 1 Semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday night at home.
Weir 62, Madonna 29
Madonna 2 5 5 17 – 29
Weir 15 16 18 13 – 62
MADONNA (7-13): Bartley 1 0-0 3, R. Birkhimer 2 0-0 4, Owens 4 1-4 9, Welsh 2 3-10 7, G. Birkhimer 2 0-0 4, Littleton 0 0-2 0, Ryan 1 0-0 2, Brady 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 4-16 29.
WEIR (8-13): Ascencio 4 2-2 11, Clausell 0 0-0 0, Hans 0 0-0 0, Greathouse 0 0-0 0, M. White 0 0-0 0, Jones 1 0-0 2, Faulks 5 0-0 10, Hoover 12 0-0 27, Weber 2 1-2 5, Utt 3 0-0 7, Cooley 0 0-0 0, Mallory 0 0-0 0, A. White 0 0-0 0, Hildreth 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 27 3-4 62.
3-POINTERS: Madonna 1 (Bartley); Weir 5 (Hoover 3, Utt 2)