CHARLESTON, W.Va. — No. 2 Westside finished with a 17-5 run to beat No. 6 Keyser 56-44 and advance to a third straight Class AA state championship game.
Marshall commitment Hope Lester spearheaded the run by scoring 10 of her game-high 26 points during that span.
“I wanted to win, and I knew that we were going to have to fight harder,” Lester said. “That gave me the mentality to want to win even more.”
Down by 14 points in the second half, Keyser stormed back and tied the game at 39 with 5:23 left on a deep 3-pointer from Lexi Carr. But the Golden Tornado went cold and scored just five points the rest of the way.
With 4:30 to go in the first half Lester picked up her third could and was forced to sit out the rest of the half. The depth of the Renegades showed as Westside (20-3) held Keyser without a field goal the rest of the half and extended a four-point lead to eight going into the half.
“When hope goes out me and Danielle (Brown) know that we have to pick up our offense to make up for her,” Westside guard Faith Davis said. “But we also know that we have a team behind us.”
Danielle Brown and Faith Davis put in 10 points a piece for the Renegades in the win.
Westside shot a sizzling 52 percent from the field and out-rebounded Keyser 31-24.
“We shot the ball a whole lot better today compared to (Thursday),” Westside coach Jamie Lusk said. “I thought our experience really really showed up today they didn’t panic, and stepped up and made some shots when we really needed them.”
Keyser (24-3) was led by Carr’s 14 points, including three 3-pointers. Katlynn Tichnell had nine points, while Lexi Taylor who was hassled by foul trouble and chipped in six points with a game-high 10 rebounds.
“The second half we tied it up and I thought our chances were there,” Keyser coach Josh Blowe said. “We tied it up at 39, and then they went on a 7-0 run. I thought we would come back, but we fell a little short.”
Keyser finished shooting 40 percent from the field, including 6-of-16 from 3-point range. The Golden Tornado had trouble handling Westside’s 3-2 zone at times as they turned the ball over 12 times.
“We had a lot of turnovers at the high post that is uncharacteristic of us,” Blowe said. “That’s basketball and why you play the game, they played better than us today and that’s why they got the W.”
Katie Hoban found herself covering the D-1 commit Lester a lot of the game.
“I’m not used to taller post players being able to pull back and shoot,” Hoban said. “Usually I leave a step or two, but when I did she started hitting them. I did what I could while I was out of my comfort zone.”
The Golden Tornado will lose just Carr and Katie Tasker, and the program would like to make coming down to Charleston an annual thing.
“These girls have fought hard all season and I’m glad people got to see who Keyser was,” Blowe said. “Before this tournament no one knew who we were. These girls showed I think we were better than a six seed.”
Westside will play Saturday in the Class AA state final against Sissonville, an upset winner over top-seeded Fairmont Senior.