Joe’s Sectional Stars – Part I

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>PARKERSBURG - The road to Charleston started with a few bangs earlier this week. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Three of the four defending champions were knocked out of action, and a plethora of new teams made postseason memories on their quest to get to the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. Here is Part I on a few of the girls who made big impacts on the road to the capital city: </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='410470' first='Meghan' last='Taylor'], Winfield, G, 5-6, Sr.</strong> - Do you think [player_tooltip player_id='410470' first='Meghan' last='Taylor'] wants another shot at Ripley? I think Taylor wants another shot at Ripley. She sure as heck played like it during Winfield's 44-42 win over Nitro on Tuesday. Forced to look at the end of her high school basketball career, Taylor came alive against the Wildcats. On a night where [player_tooltip player_id='410464' first='Antonela' last='Johnson'] and [player_tooltip player_id='410463' first='Kennedy' last='Schilling'] provided some back up, Taylor brought the main punch. She scored 23 points and sent the Wildcats home early. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Sullivan Pivont, Summers County, G, 5-9, Sr. </strong>- The Summer County Bobcat certainly equaled her sister Gavin. With just over a minute left in Wednesday's sectional championship, the younger Pivont gathered then thrust herself into the spotlight. She elevated released and swish. The made jumper from the free-throw line coming with just 67 seconds left in the game gave the Bobcats the lead for good against Class AA favorite Wyoming East. Summers County then never relinquished the advantage. The shot set up huge home court advantage for the Bobcats in the crazy Region III where three teams worthy of state tournament trips will battle for two spots in the co-final. Should Summers County advance, they will be indebted to the shots made by Pivont and teammate Liv Meador. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Addyson Hines, James Monroe, F, 5-11, Sr.</strong> - Addyson Hines played a big-step in completing what coach Mike Hines called "step one of five." Perhaps, she didn't lead her team in scoring or put up mind-boggling stats, but she helped big time. She repeatedly took pressure off her teammates and got them the ball early and often in the Maverick's sectional championship win. More than one possession ended after Hines found an open teammate for the basket, maybe she didn't get the assist, but James Monroe needed a team effort to beat two-time state tournament participant River View. Hines certainly made sure her group received that effort. Next to her 12 points, she pulled down 18 rebounds that gifted the Mavericks with extra possessions and proved useful in the third-quarter pull away. She also chipped in five steals and four assists. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='496331' first='Ashlyn' last='Riley'], Lincoln, SG, 5-11, Jr.</strong> - Lincoln's offensive captain soared. She soared high. She soared long. She soared with a purpose. Quite simply, nothing came between her and victory during the Cougars win over Elkins. The Tigers may have grasped Lincoln's game plan, but it hardly mattered. Faced with the prospect of another early end to a season, Riley scored 33 points and made it look rather easy. She evenly split her total between two half with 15 coming in the first and 18 coming in the second. She tallied her points on run outs, she tallied her points on layups. Basically, if there was any way for her to tally points, she did. Riley also nailed the free throws that gave Lincoln some breathing room late in the game. Thankfully, she was on point as the Cougars also committed 26 turnovers including 19 in the second half. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>[player_tooltip player_id='496346' first='Kenly' last='Rogers'], East Fairmont, SG, 5-8, Jr. </strong>- If you believe [player_tooltip player_id='496346' first='Kenly' last='Rogers'] doesn't smell a trip to Charleston, think again. Maybe sit down take a minute and wait. She most certainly smelled it on Tuesday. Rogers shouldered the scoring load by tallying 32 points and East Fairmont ran over Fairmont Senior by the score of 63-37. She expertly dissected the Polar Bears' defensive approach - Each cut hurting more and more as they added up and eventually overwhelmed Corey Hines' young group. Rogers did what she does best, she made something out of whatever she was given to her. Sometimes, the defense was a box and one. Sometimes, the defense looked zone, while other times the defense appeared man-to-man. Whatever. No problem. Piece of cake. Piece of crumb cake. With a flash, dash and a cut she broke up the looks and came out with points. At least on Tuesday night, there was no stopping the Queen Bee. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->