CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Ashley Hall and Kendra Walker produced double-doubles and No. 2 St. Marys easily handled No. 7 Fayetteville 71-40 in a Class A quarterfinal.
“I wasn’t surprised, I saw coach (Fayetteville) play earlier in the year and they’re a scrappy bunch,” St. Marys coach Howard Meeks said. “I was more disappointed (with us). The first four balls that were on the floor I saw all green on the floor and no white.”
“We fixed that and figured out that we want to stay around Charleston a little bit longer.”
St. Marys (23-1) got 19 points and 12 rebounds from the sophomore Hall, while Walker finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Mikaela Britton rounded out the double-figure scoring with 13.
The Pirates’ plan was to get physical with the 6-foot-4 Walker and make her uncomfortable. It worked early as they held her to just two points and six boards before the break.
“I think their plan was to double-team me and not let me get the ball,” Walker said. “They were successful in doing that, but we have outside shooting and I think we were ready.”
Consequently, all the attention to Walker opened up Hall who came out hot with 12 points in the first half and picked up the scoring for the Blue Devils.
“When they were guarding her I could get open in the corner more easy, and if I drove I knew if I shot it or passed it to her it would work out just as easy,” Hall said.
Fayetteville (16-8) was paced by Madie Pritt’s 12 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Kendall Malay finished with 10 points on just 4-of-19 shooting from the field.
“I was proud of my kids they played hard, and I knew we could give them a good game,” Fayetteville coach John Kincaid said. “The score was a lot closer than it looked, as they expanded it at the end.”
With 3:38 to go in the third quarter, Malay hit a layup bring the Pirates with in nine at 37-28. St. Marys proceeded to end the game on a 34-12 run.
The Pirates shot just 16-for-46 from the field and finished 6-of-24 from the foul line.
“The game’s not complicated. They made their free throws and we didn’t,” Kincaid said. “If you flip flop those numbers we’re walking in here second and they’re coming in first.”
Fayetteville also struggled with the Blue Devils’ pressure that forced 27 turnovers.
“They’re very talented—you don’t go 23-1 without creating a lot of turnovers,” Kincaid said. “I was hoping they would stay in that press because I knew we could get a lot of layups, because we thought we were more athletic than them.”
St. Marys advances to play Tucker County on Friday at 11:15 a.m., in the Class A semifinals.