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’Jackets victorious in Fenton Shootout

JAY W. BENNETT The Marietta Times Williamstown’s Breanna Lowe prepares to make a move in the paint against Clay County’s Sydney Clark during Friday night’s Donnie Fenton Shootout.

WILLIAMSTOWN — Host Williamstown and defending Class A state champion Wheeling Central each tasted victory here Friday night in the semifinals of the annual Donnie Fenton Shootout.

The Maroon Knights (2-2) were never challenged during their 59-26 triumph versus Poca, which trailed 19-1 after one and 37-8 at halftime en route to dropping to 2-2.

Head coach Fred Sauro’s Yellowjackets, who were making their season debut, used a strong second half to finally pull away from pesky Clay County, 69-56.

Starting at 11 a.m. today, the junior varsity teams of the Maroon Knights and Yellowjackets will collide and then a rolling schedule will follow with Poca and Clay County (0-3) battling it out in the consolation game prior to the title tilt.

“We were coming off 23 practices and had to settle into our first game,” admitted Sauro, who received a team-high 17 points from Jenna Pridemore. “We had to make a couple adjustments to try and keep them at bay. Clay did a good job running their stuff and they executed well, but our guys responded and we hit the boards better in the second half.

“It’s (playing Central) going to be a big challenge. Looking at our game, I was pleased with how we came out. We were nervous, even the seniors, but they have to handle that. During the course of the season it’s more like a journey and figuring out that ‘I’m OK in my role’ and we try to get the kids to expand roles. I think most of our guys settled down in the second half.”

Williamstown, which held a dominating 53-32 edge on the boards that included grabbing 23 on the offensive end, led 30-25 at the break.

A trey by Clay County’s Erica Boggs, who finished with 16 points, with 40 seconds left in the third had the Panthers within five at 42-37, but Kayli Sauro hit two foul shots, Pridemore made one and then pivot Bethany Arnold grabbed a defensive board and fired ahead to Pridemore, who darted in for a layup just before the horn to give the hosts a 47-37 advantage.

Freshman Lakyn Joy opened the final period with her first varsity points — draining a 3 and then converting a pair of free throws. Following a Mara Rinehart deuce from a Brittney Hooper assist, the ‘Jackets were in control up 54-37.

Clay County’s Kacey Butcher led all scorers with 21 points and added seven boards, five assists and four steals.

Arnold finished with just four markers, but grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and tied Butcher for game-high assist honors. Nicole Reynolds had four steals in the victory, Rinehart tallied 11 points, Sauro had nine and Taylor Newton eight. Joy finished with seven points, all coming in the fourth.

Wheeling Central forced 19 first-half turnovers against Poca and led 16-0 before Devin Ord hit a foul shot with 2:43 left in the first. Hannah White, who had nine points, three assists and four steals, put the Maroon Knights ahead for good with a driving lay-in just 18 ticks in.

Kaylee Reinbeau ended the night with a dozen counters and her three-point play with 1:29 to go before the break gave Wheeling Central a 34-6 bulge.

Eden Gainer led all scorers in the opening semifinal with 19 points. She also grabbed five rebounds and had a quartet of steals in the victory. Marissa Horan joined White in scoring nine markers and also had three steals. Poca’s only double figure scorer was Autumn Smith, who finished with 10 points. The Dots shot just 23.1 percent for the game (9 of 39) and went 6 of 27 from downtown.

Williamstown 69, Clay County 56

Clay 11 14 12 19 — 56

WHS 10 20 17 22 — 69

CLAY COUNTY (0-3)

Marissa Williams 1 4-4 6, Kaleigh Brown 1 1-4 3, Erica Boggs 7 0-2 16, Kacey Butcher 6 5-5 21, Sydney Clark 1 0-0 2, Brooklyn Burford 1 0-0 2, Emilea Holcomb 0 0-0 0, Ivy Taylor 1 0-0 2, Shaylee Robinson 0 0-0 0, Julie Holcomb 2 0-2 4; TOTALS: 20 10-17 56; 3-point goals: Butcher 4, Boggs 2

WILLIAMSTOWN (1-0)

Taylor Newton 3 0-0 8, Jenna Pridemore 4 8-9 17, Nicole Reynolds 1 1-4 3, Izzy Erb 1 0-3 3, Bethany Arnold 2 0-0 4, Mara Rinehart 3 5-5 11, Lakyn Joy 2 2-2 7, Kayli Sauro 3 2-2 9, Brittney Hooper 1 0-0 2, Sophie Folwell 0 0-2 0, Breanna Lowe 2 1-3 5; TOTALS: 22 19-30 69; 3-point goals: Newton 2, Joy, Pridemore, Sauro, Erb 1

Shooting: C 20-54 (37.0%), W 22-65 (33.8%); 3-pointers: C 6-20, W 6-25; Rebounds: C 32 (Williams 8, Butcher 7), W 53 (Arnold 13); Assists: C 13 (Butcher 5, Brown 4), W 18 (Arnold 5); Steals: C 15 (Brown, Butcher 4, Williams 3), W 13 (Reynolds 4); Turnovers: C 21, W 21

Next games: Wheeling Central JV vs. Williamstown JV 11 a.m.; following rolling schedule consolation, Poca vs. Clay; championship, Central vs. WHS.

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