Make it a three-peat for the St. Joseph Lady Irish as they defeat the St. Marys Lady Blue Devils for the second year in-a-row, 56-49.
It was a slow start for the defending Class A state champions. St. Joseph didn’t score a basket until the 3:20 mark in the first half, but after that things got rolling for the Lady Irish. Freshman Mychal Johnson was able to pace the offense for St. Joseph in the first half scoring 14 of her 23 points.
St. Marys was able to control the clock early in the first half, but missed opportunities by the Lady Blue Devils gave the Lady chances to score and they took advantage of it and led at halftime 28-17.
In the second half the momentum shift back to the St. Marys side as they fought back from a big deficit and did so without star Kelsea Fickiesen, who missed almost half of the quarter with a bloody nose. St. Joseph’s lead was cut to four by the end of the quarter.
In the final quarter, the Lady Blue Devils were able to score on offense, but the Lady Irish were able to match St. Marys offensively. In the final minute of the game St. Marys freshman center Kenrda Walker hit a short jumper to put the Lady Blue Devils within two points. St. Marys was able to make their free throws and that sealed the victory for them.
Johnson led all scores in the game with 23 points, while teammate Sarah Sang scored 21 points in the final game of her high school career.
This marks the third time in WVSSAC girl’s basketball history that a Class A team has won at least three consecutive state championships.