Joey White for WVMetroNews.com
SOUTH CHARLESTON, W. Va. – With her final high school basketball regular season winding down, South Charleston senior guard Aaliyah Dunham is gearing up to make some noise in the postseason again.
The Black Eagles suffered a tough loss in the quarterfinals of last year’s state tournament to rival and six-seed George Washington, 52-47, to end their championship hopes. South Charleston had won the two previous meetings that season before that state tournament upset.
Motivated by defeat, Dunham spent the offseason polishing her offensive game to help bring the Black Eagles back to the Civic Center this year for one more run.
“It’s hard to lose to someone you know, especially when you play them three times a season,” said Dunham. “That fueled me a lot.”
South Charleston stormed out of the gates to start the season, beating Parkersburg and AA powers Lincoln, Fairmont Senior and Wyoming East. It has been Dunham demonstrating one of her most outstanding qualities along the way – her leadership.
“Since I’m a senior, a lot of people look up to me,” said Dunham. “My role is to direct everybody in the right places at all times, and do whatever coach wants me to do.”
Currently, the floor general has her team boasting a 16-4 record, and the fifth best Class AAA ranking in the MetroNews Power Index.
Two of the Black Eagles’ losses have come to top-ranked Huntington, with No. 3 Buckhannon-Upshur and a scrappy Spring Valley team handing South Charleston its other pair of defeats.
One of those 16 wins came Jan. 17 against the George Washington team that beat them in last year’s state quarterfinals. Behind Dunham’s playmaking ability, South Charleston cruised to 63-41 victory.
“It was back and forth at first, but then we got into a faster pace and they got in a little bit of foul trouble,” said Dunham. “They had to go deep into their bench early, and as they were subbing we kept pushing the lead. Soon enough, it was up to 20.”
Dunham credits a lot of the team’s success to her teammates, who have stepped up around her to make the Black Eagles again one of the Class AAA state championship contenders.
“We have a couple young players that are stepping up. They’ve been improving since the season started, and I’m very impressed with how they’ve been playing,” said Dunham.
Dunham has already signed to play Division I basketball at Xavier next season, alongside Huntington all-state standout Jordyn Dawson.
“Jordyn and I kind of grew up with each other. My mom is from Huntington and they lived near each other,” said Dunham. “All the way through we’ve been rivals and friends on and off the court.”
Dunham was very comfortable at the Cincinnati school, and looks forward to making the transition to the next level in the Musketeers’ program.
“I had a very close bond with one of the coaches,” said Dunham. “When I went there it just felt like home. I just felt welcome.”
With her college future set in stone, Dunham is focused on leading South Charleston back to the state tournament — and hopefully, this time around, coming home with a state championship.
“That would be awesome,” said Dunham. “That’s something we’ve been working toward for four years now. That’s our goal, so hopefully we achieve our goal.”
| SOUTH CHARLESTON 2016-2017 Girls Basketball Schedule |
||||||||
| 1 | 12/02/16 | 8:45PM | A – | LINCOLN HS (FAIRMONT SHOOTOUT) | 53 | – | 34 | W |
| 2 | 12/03/16 | TBAPM | A – | FAIRMONT SR. | 64 | – | 63 | W |
| 3 | 12/13/16 | 7:30PM | A – | PARKERSBURG | 66 | – | 60 | W |
| 4 | 12/16/16 | 7:30PM | A – | WYOMING EAST | 54 | – | 45 | W |
| 5 | 12/21/16 | 7:30PM | H – | CABELL MIDLAND | 55 | – | 36 | W |
| 6 | 12/29/16 | 7:30PM | A – | HUNTINGTON | 43 | – | 53 | L |
| 7 | 12/30/16 | TBAPM | A – | BUCKHANNON UPSHUR (MARIETTA TOURNAMENT) | 69 | – | 76 | L |
| 8 | 01/06/17 | 7:30PM | H – | HURRICANE | 82 | – | 21 | W |
| 9 | 01/10/17 | 7:30PM | H – | SPRING VALLEY | 61 | – | 57 | W |
| 10 | 01/12/17 | 7:30PM | A – | ST. ALBANS HIGH SCHOOL | 54 | – | 43 | W |
| 11 | 01/14/17 | 7:30PM | A – | CAPITAL (NC) | 54 | – | 32 | W |
| 12 | 01/17/17 | 7:30PM | H – | GEORGE WASHINGTON (NC) | 63 | – | 41 | W |
| 13 | 01/20/17 | 7:30PM | H – | RIPLEY | 56 | – | 29 | W |
| 14 | 01/25/17 | 7:30PM | H – | HUNTINGTON | 47 | – | 61 | L |
| 15 | 01/27/17 | 7:30PM | A – | CABELL MIDLAND | 58 | – | 38 | W |
| 16 | 01/31/17 | 7:30PM | A – | HURRICANE | 50 | – | 23 | W |
| 17 | 02/02/17 | 7:30PM | A – | SPRING VALLEY | 40 | – | 46 | L |
| 18 | 02/04/17 | TBAPM | H – | CAROLINA PRESS(HUNTINGTON ST. JOE TOURNAMENT) | 62 | – | 48 | W |
| 19 | 02/06/17 | TBAPM | H – | LITTLE GENERAL | 67 | – | 28 | W |
| 20 | 02/08/17 | 7:30PM | H – | ST. ALBANS HIGH SCHOOL | 42 | – | 32 | W |
| 21 | 02/11/17 | 7:30PM | H – | MARIETTA,OH H.S. | – | |||
| 22 | 02/18/17 | TBAPM | H – | MSAC TOURNAMENT – GIRLS | – | |||
| wins: 16 lost: 4 ties: 0 | ||||||||