St. Marys' Anna Bennett runs the offense while being guarded by Williamstown's Quinn Bunch during the Yellowjackets' 44-36 road defeat Wednesday evening. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

ST. MARYS — Here Wednesday night in a Little Kanawha Conference rivalry affair that featured a pair of top five ranked Class AA programs, host St. Marys used a 14-2 spurt to close the third quarter en route to a 44-36 upset of Williamstown.

The No. 2 Yellowjackets of head coach Danny Bunch, who played without the services of Annabelle Haught, had their only lead at 2-0 versus the No. 4 Blue Devils.

Addie Davis, who had 17 points, four rebounds and a game-high five assists, put the Blue Devils ahead for good at 4:06 of the first when she drained a 3 from one of Anna Bennett’s quartet of dimes.

WHS, which slipped to 9-2 and plays host on Saturday morning to Chapmanville, trailed 18-12 at intermission, but cut it to 20-19 early in the third after Quinn Bunch assisted on Anna Cosner’s lay-in and Gracie Montgomery found Faith Pickens, who went for game-highs of 18 points and nine boards, for a deuce.

However, Brynnley Bulluck drained a pair of charity stripe tosses for part of her 13 points to start the run as the lone ‘Jacket field goal the rest of the quarter was another make by Pickens.

Williamstown's Faith Pickens, who went for game-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds, is guarded by St. Marys' Brynnley Bulluck during the Yellowjackets' 44-36 road setback Wednesday evening. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Meanwhile, Bennett came away with a steal and found Davis for a 3. Callie Powell, who finished with a game-high four steals, made it 28-19 after she hit from deep. Davis’ second trey of the stanza gave the Blue Devils a double digit lead for the first time at 31-21.

To make matters worse for the Yellowjackets, Powell had a skip pass to Bulluck, who drained a trifecta to beat the buzzer and put the visitors down a baker’s dozen.

“Here’s what I’m proud of my team for,” admitted SMHS boss Fred King, whose squad lost the rebounding battle 30-17, but only had four turnovers against the WHS zone. “They bought in what I asked them to do.

“I told the kids before the game if I have to go in there and talk to you and get you up for this game you don’t have one competitive cell in your body. All these people are here to watch you win, not be second place tonight. They wanted to win and they bought in what we asked.”

Arissa Burt added eight points and seven caroms in the setback. Montgomery, who joined Burt with seven boards, had a game-high two blocks and chipped in five markers along with Anna Cosner.

Williamstown's Anna Bennett has her shot blocked by Williamstown's Gracie Montgomery (10) as teammate Faith Pickens (14) also challenges during the Blue Devils' 44-36 triumph Wednesday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Really, there’s no excuse for it, but we just didn’t play very well,” said coach Bunch, whose team had a dozen turnovers and shot 35.3% (12 of 34) compared to the Blue Devils’ 42.1% (16 of 38) that included the visitors going 3 of 15 from distance as SMHS hit 7 of 22.

“St. Marys wanted it a lot more than we did tonight. We came out in the third quarter and made a little run, but we just didn’t make some very good decisions tonight. It happens and that’s the game of basketball. Sometimes it’s good for that to happen.”

St. Marys, which will eye a 10-1 start when Wahama invades for a 1 p.m. Saturday varsity only affair, saw its lead drop to seven at 39-32 with 4:11 remaining following a putback by Pickens.

However, a steal by Davis led to a layup by Laney Watkins 1:40 later and it was 43-32 with 1:30 to go following a bucket by Bennett.

“Anna Bennett, I told her at the end you might only have got four points tonight, but you held her (Bunch) to nothing. You actually scored 20 for us tonight. She did an outstanding job. She took a lot away from them tonight. We have respect for Bunch.

Williamstown's Gracie Montgomery looks to pass while being guarded by St. Marys' Callie Powell during the Blue Devils' 44-36 victory Wednesday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“If you leave her open she’s going to make shots. Now, we knew we were going to give up shots to Burt and we know we can’t stop Burt or Pickens all the time, but just make them work and get them off their sweet spot. I told the girls they are going to score, but make them work.”

Powell finished with six points while Watkins had four markers along with Bennett, who had a team-high six rebounds and a blocked shot.

Coach King also was pleased his team was able to respond after Williamstown made its run.

“What’s good about this is that it shows character and discipline and maturity that we were able not to lose that lead and still come down and get a good possession and a good look, and execute,” said the coach. “That’s the difference between a good team and an average team.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Williamstown's Arissa Burt is guarded in the post by St. Marys' Addie Davis during the Blue Devils' 44-36 victory Wednesday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Williamstown's Gracie Montgomery comes away with a steal during the Yellowjackets' 44-36 road loss to St. Marys on Wednesday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)