Most Memorable Moments: 2021 State Tournament

There are always great moments when it comes to the postseason. Playing in Charleston on the biggest stage brings emotion to everybody. Take a look below as we highlight the most memorable moments.   Class “AAA” State Championship Game The best game in the 2021 WVSSAC State Tournament and arguably one of the best in many years, the triple “AAA” State Championship game was one to remember. Coming into the game everyone knew it was a matchup of stars [player_tooltip player_id="153322" first="Baylee" last="Goins"] of Nitro and [player_tooltip player_id="153370" first="Marley" last="Washenitz"] of Fairmont Senior. Nitro started the game with a bang! Jumping out on Fairmont Senior 16-1 with three minutes to go in the first quarter. It would be 18-5 Nitro at the end of the first quarter. Then it was Fairmont Senior’s turn. The Polar Bears cut the lead down to four with 4:36 left. Then the worst thing possible for Nitro happened. Senior guard and team leader, [player_tooltip player_id="153322" first="Baylee" last="Goins"] would go down with an injury as she was in pain for several minutes before being carried off the court. Goins did not return. Fairmont Senior would take their first lead into halftime up 22-20 on Nitro. This is where the game got fun. The game was sped up moving back and forth as Fairmont Senior brought out their press, Nitro was running with them. Tied with two minutes in the third quarter, Lena Elkins would get back-to-back layups and give Nitro a 32-28 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Nitro up 7, Fairmont Senior was not going away. The Polar Bears had everyone step up! [player_tooltip player_id="153351" first="Rebekah" last="Jenkins"], [player_tooltip player_id="153399" first="Meredith" last="Maier"], [player_tooltip player_id="153370" first="Marley" last="Washenitz"], and [player_tooltip player_id="153398" first="Reagan" last="Blasher"] all hit huge shots down the stretch to tie it up at 38 with four minutes remaining. Then it was Nitro’s time to run. Running from one end to the other, the Wildcats outpaced them getting easy and key looks at the basket. Lena Elkins had multiple layups inside and Brooklyn Bowen hit a clutch short floater with 1:49 left putting Nitro up 6. Between Danielle Ward, Patricia Ward, and [player_tooltip player_id="153429" first="Taylor" last="Maddox"] the Wildcats had iced the game at the line. Nitro would win by six to complete one of the greatest games in State Tournament history.   Martinsburg Brings The Scare As always when teams are playing their last games they want to leave it all out there. Usually, this creates some upsets where the lower seed surprisingly beats the higher seed. For Martinsburg, they came to represent the Eastern Panhandle. Martinsburg as the 8 seed came in to play 1 seed, Huntington. Many people already had planned that Huntington would move on, but the Bulldogs had other plans. Both teams would get a little of a slow start, but Huntington was up at the end of the first quarter 10-2. Then came the Bulldogs. Martinsburg would light up the scoreboard in the second quarter as they outscored Huntington 17-6 and took a halftime lead of 19-16. Martinsburg continued to shoot it well as Huntington did not. Martinsburg would be up five headed to the fourth quarter. As the game got more down to the wire, Huntington turned up the pressure. The game tied at 47 with 1:29 left, Huntington would attack the basket and get to the line. Huntington would pull out the close battle 54-49.   Wyoming East Creating Chaos <img class="size-medium wp-image-284740 alignright" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/05/vs-Parkersburg-Catholic-2.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /> There was one team that turned up the pressure in all three games of the State Tournament. That’s the team you wouldn’t want to play. Wyoming East was the team to speed you up all game and create organized chaos. Everyone knows about the quickness and scrappy [player_tooltip player_id="153325" first="Skylar" last="Davidson"] who has signed to Glenville State. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="153433" first="Abby" last="Russell"] is another scrappy defender and is one to keep an eye on. With those two guards and added length and athleticism of [player_tooltip player_id="153388" first="Daisha" last="Summers"], this team forces a lot of turnovers. They just want to get after you and make you get out of your game.   [player_tooltip player_id="153323" first="Kalissa" last="Lacy"] Comes Out Hot The former State Player of the Year and senior guard [player_tooltip player_id="153323" first="Kalissa" last="Lacy"] came out showing her talent at the State Tournament. 3 seed George Washington was matched up with 6 seed Woodrow Wilson. Lacy came out for George Washington scoring the first 12 points with two of those in threes. After [player_tooltip player_id="153350" first="Vivian" last="Ho"] would get a layup, Lacy ended the quarter with two more threes. Lacy had 18 of the teams 20 points in the first quarter. She had 22 points heading into the half. Lacy ended the game with a tournament-high 37 points along with 6 assists and 6 steals. She was 14 of 22 from the field and 7 of 11 from behind the arc.   [player_tooltip player_id="153382" first="Kaylea" last="Baisden"] Three-Point Record When players come down to Charleston they get the opportunity to turn heads by their performance. It usually happens at least with one girl showcasing their skills. For Tug Valley junior, [player_tooltip player_id="153382" first="Kaylea" last="Baisden"] showed out. 1 seed Tug Valley would face 8 seed Pendleton County. Baisden jumped out in the first quarter already hitting five 3 pointers. Everything was just falling for Baisden and Tug Valley. Baisden finished with 33 points and 8 rebounds. She shot 9 of 19 from behind the arc, breaking the 3PT record for the most 3PT’s in a single tournament game.   Huntington Gets Awoken Huntington, coming in as the 1 seed in class “AAAA” was the favorite. However, Huntington had an interesting State Tournament to get the title. The Highlanders almost got upset by 8 seed Martinsburg in their first appearance of the tournament. Huntington shot a poorly 26.4%. That wouldn’t put any doubt in them though as they came back way stronger and prepared. Huntington would get a solid win over a tough Morgantown team to advance to the State Championship. Then from there, they kept Improving. Handling Cabell Midland for the second time this season and winning the class “AAAA” State Championship.   <img class=" wp-image-284752 alignleft" src="https://prephoops-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/pgh/uploads/2021/05/Lili-Neely.jpg" alt="" width="168" height="112" /> Cameron Earns Attention When teams from areas of the State that don’t get much attention, come and play on the biggest stage, it creates an opportunity to show everyone what they’re about. Cameron seeded as the 2 seed showed they earned it. Cameron jumped out to a dominating performance over Madonna by 18 in the quarterfinals. Then surprisingly did it again in the semifinals against Calhoun County. They would end up being outlasted by Tug Valley, but with this young squad, they should be back for some more chances.