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St. Marys finishes strong against Tucker in Class A semifinals

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Second-seeded St. Marys took the lead on a 3-pointer by freshman Jordan Fox with 4:52 left and stormed past No. 3 Tucker County 55-42 in the Class A semifinals on Friday.

The Blue Devils finished the game on a 24-8 run to advance to their fourth state title game in the last five years.

St. Marys (24-1) was led by Kendra Walker’s game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds, and Ashley Hall recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. But coach Howard Meeks didn’t overlook Fox’s momentum-swinging 3.

“In practice the kids get in the habit of me saying ‘Hit it’, and I said it and she stepped up and hit it,” Meeks said. “I’m glad she did, because I noticed we had four girls in the paint and a long rebound would’ve meant a layup on the other end for Tucker County.”

Tucker County (20-5) was paced by Stephanie Betler’s 15 points, though she shot just 4-of-32 from the floor. Savannah Ambrose, the 6-foot-1 center who spent the game guarding Walker, was held to four points though she brought down a game-high 15 boards.

”It’s not every night that I have to go against someone as tall as me, and I loved the competition,” Walker said.

“I never played a girl that was taller than me so it was a little different. I just went out and tried my best,” said Ambrose.

The Blue Devils advanced to play the St. Joseph Central-Charleston Catholic winner on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in the Class A state championship game.

The play turned rugged in the lane as players scrapped for loose balls and missed shots. The Mountain Lions were cold throughout, shooting just 19 percent.

“It was pretty physical, but I was expecting it, it wasn’t really shocking,” said Betler who was constantly knocked to floor. “I feel like if we shot a little better that we could have beat them.”

Added Tucker County coach Jim Ambrose: “We didn’t shoot the ball very well tonight, I thought we played hard and missed some fouls shots late that didn’t help. I thought we battled for all 32 minutes.”





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