GRAFTON, W.Va. — Having lost twice earlier in the week, Grafton’s girls basketball team was seeking to turn things around Saturday against sectional opponent Petersburg.
The Bearcats did just that by shooting better than 50 percent (24-of-47) to end the Vikings’ 10-game win streak and hand them their third loss of the season, 56-43.
“We did a great job executing in the halfcourt, which has been our weak point. We shot 51 percent — the best shooting we’ve done all year,” GHS head coach Andrew Moore said. “It’s a big sectional win for us and it has implications on where we’ll play in the postseason.”
Bria Jacobs and Meredith Maier combined for 10 first quarter points to help the Bearcats (8-5) hold a 14-12 lead.
The Bearcats put together their best stretch of the contest in the second period, outscoring Petersburg 16-5 on the strength of Maier’s nine points. Her conventional three-point play made it 21-14, and the Bearcats relied on their defense to continue building the advantage before settling for a 30-17 halftime lead.
“They’re a dribble drive team and we just tried to beat them to spots,” Moore said. “We got them a little frustrated.”
Grafton scored the first eight points of the second half and took a 38-17 lead on Jacbos’ transition bucket.
After falling behind by 22, Petersburg (16-3) put together a 12-2 surge to end the third, cutting its deficit to 43-31.
“We got rattled a little bit,” Moore said. “But luckily we had a big enough lead we could withstand their punch and got through that until we got into the fourth quarter.”
Maier scored the Bearcats’ first six points of the fourth quarter to prevent the Vikings from ever getting closer than 12 over the final period. The 5-foot-10 sophomore led all playerd with 24 points on 11-of-18 shooting. Maier also had a game-high 13 rebounds, helping Grafton control the boards, 34-25.
“She can rebound and start the break. We’ve been doing a great job of filling the lanes around her,” Moore said.
Jacobs added 12 points, five assists and four rebounds.
Kymberly Minnich scored a team-high 11 for Petersburg, which suffered its first loss in 2020. Kayla Lantz was the Vikings’ second-leading scorer with eight points, while Mickala Taylor added seven points, five boards and four assists off the bench.
Petersburg was held to less than 35 percent shooting (16-of-46) and without a three-pointer.