WILLIAMSTOWN - In typical Williamstown fashion, Man High School became yet another victim of the Yellowjackets' relentless pressure.
Friday night in a third-place game for the W.Va. Hometown Invitational Tournament, Williamstown scored 26 of the game's first 28 points and the Hillbillies never threatened while losing 84-61.
After cooling off the defensive pressure following a timeout at the 3:52 mark of the first quarter and Williamstown leading 23-2, coach Sauro never really showed more than a half-court scheme. "We've been doing that for the last four games or so - we have been coming out strong," Williamstown coach Fred Sauro said after his ballclub improved to 11-8. "Our no fear aspect has really helped us the last couple of weeks. It's like what do we have to lose?"
Article Photos
JEFF BAUGHAN Special to The Times
Man’s Taylor Whited, left, and Williamstown’s Lauren Amos battle for a loose gall Friday night.
Williamstown's Carley Ellison wreaked havoc on the defensive end and picked off five Man passes in the first four minutes of the opening period and teammate Brooke Cieslewski knocked down the first four 3-pointers she attempted in the first half and scored all 17 of her points by intermission.
Kenzie Smith scored a team-high 23 points and Ellison added 12 points to go with nine rebounds as the Yellowjackets increased its winning streak to four straight games with one game remaining in the regular season. Williamstown travels to Huntington St. Joseph next Wednesday before awaiting their postseason fate in the Class A tournament bracket.
"Between now and Wednesday, we have to shore up some of the defensive aspects of our game," Sauro said. "We also have to work on our post defense, especially we are small and people are going to try and post us up. We have to concentrate on blocking out because all the teams we play are bigger than we are."
Fact Box
WV Hometown Invitational Tournament
Williamstown 84, Man 61
Man 16 6 19 20 - 61
Williamstown 35 14 24 11 - 84
MAN (11-8)
Jennifer Shull 0-2 0-0 0, Summer Sword 12-36 7-8 35, Hannah Harvey 3-7 2-4 8, Mika McCoy 3-7 2-4 8, Taylor Whited 2-10 0-0 4, Summer Combs 1-3 0-0 2, Misty Dempsey 0-0 0-1 0, Keeley Porter 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS 23-75 11-15 61. 3-point goals: Sword 4
WILLIAMSTOWN (11-8)
Kenzie Smith 9-17 2-2 23, Carley Ellison 6-10 0-0 12, Kathleen Cornell 1-7 6-6 8, Brooke Cieslewski 6-10 1-2 17, Lauren Amos 2-8 0-0 4, Jesse Kerns 2-9 2-2 7, Sami Rea 1-5 0-0 2, Allie Robinson 1-3 0-0 2, Cami Mossor 0-6 0-0 0, Andrea Chidester 1-5 0-0 3, Heather Albertson 2-8 0-0 4, Carli Harlan 0-1 0-0 0, Melissa Cieslewski 0-0 0- 0, Laura Petty 1-2 0-0 2. TOTALS 32-91 11-12 84. 3-point goals: B. Cieslewski 4, Smith 3, Kerns 1, Chidester 1.
Rebounds: Man 52 (Sword 15); WHS 59 (Ellison 9). Assists: Man 9 (Combs 4); WHS 20 (Kerns 6). Steals: Man 5 (Whited 2); WHS 16 (Ellison 6). Turnovers: Man 23, WHS 11.
Next game: Greater Beckley Christian at Man, Monday; Williamstown at Huntington St. Joseph, Wednesday
Man's only offensive threat was Summer Sword, who scored 14 of the Hillbillies' 16 first-quarter points. The senior was responsible for nearly half of team's shots from the floor after converting 12-of-36 attempts for a game-high 35 points.
Also scoring in double figures for the 11-8 Hillbillies was Mika McCoy with 12 points. Her bucket with five minutes remaining in the second quarter sliced the Williamstown advantage to 35-20. Lauren Amos contributed a pair of buckets as the Yellowjackets padded their cushion back to 49-22 by halftime. Smith's 3-pointer with two minutes left in the third quarter pumped up the margin to a game-high 33 points at 66-33.
The fourth quarter belonged to the reserves with Williamstown point guard Heather Albertson registering four points and two assists.
