CHARLESTON W.Va. — Led by senior guard Miki Glenn’s 22 points and 10 rebounds, No. 2 Bridgeport upset top-seeded defending state champion Westside 44-27 in Saturday’s Class AA state final.
“If she’s not the best player in the state, then I don’t care anymore,” said Bridgeport coach Dave Marshall, who captured his first state title in 18 years at the helm of the Indians. “She plays the game like I feel it should be played.”
Bridgeport (25-2), which lost in last year’s Class AAA final against Greenbrier East, used 95 points by Glenn in her three days in Charleston, including a 51-of-56 performance from the foul line. When Glenn exited Saturday’s final with 19 seconds left, she jumped into Marshall’s arms.
“It’s definitely one of the most exciting moments of my life,” Glenn said. “(Coach) deserves this win — he’s been like a father figure to a lot of our girls and has worked so hard to get here.”
Westside (25-2) was led by Hope Lester’s 11 points and 11 rebounds.
“(The loss) will make us work harder to get down here next year in the same game,” Lester said. “Just hopefully we’ll have a different outcome next year.”
Lester had five field goals, halft her team’s output as the Renegades went just 10-of-49 from the field. A big part of those shooting struggle was the pressure defense of Hannah Fetty, who garnered all-tournament honors, though only scoring seven points in three victories.
“I knew I wasn’t by myself — I knew there would be help behind me,” Fetty said. “The way we played fronting the post and pushing (Lester) back, you know that someone will be there to help you if you lose your man. It was just a great group effort.”
Westside had won 53 of its last 54 games coming into Saturday’s matchup.
“Game-plan wise, we did what we wanted — we held them in the 40’s,” Lusk said. “We tried to make Miki a jump-shooter and tried to make their other players beat us.”
The Indians never trailed, jumping out to a 23-11 halftime lead. The margin swelled to 17 points in the second half with the Renegades fouling in the final moments.
Megan Ware chipped in seven points for the Indians.
Westside used 10 rebounds from Megan Endicott to control the boards 38-29.
The Class AA All-Tournament team included:
Hope Lester, Westside
Miki Glenn, Bridgeport
Shealyn Shafer, Nicholas County
Kaden Whaley, Fairmont Senior
Faith Davis, Westside
Hannah Fetty, Bridgeport
Emily Stoller, Fairmont Senior
Hope Chalfant, Bridgeport
— CJ Ricker