CHARLESTON, W.Va. — No. 2 Wheeling Central turned a two-point halftime lead into a blowout, holding seventh-seeded Valley to five points in the second half of a 66-27 win in the Class A girls quarterfinals.
Wheeling Central (22-4) was led by 14 points each from Colleen McCormick and Emily Bucon, but the story was the Knights’ defense, which held Valley to 2-of-21 shooting in the second half and zero points in the fourth quarter.
“We were right with them in the first half, but then we kind of fell apart and our shots didn’t fall,” said Valley coach Richard Cantrell, whose team made huge strides after winning only six games last season.
Valley (13-8) was paced by Alexis Payne, who kept the game close in the first half with 13 early points and eight rebounds. She finished with 14 points and 12 boards.
“Payne is a dominating presence in the middle,” said Knights coach Penn Kurtz. “We tried to wear her out and it finally got to that point in the third where she couldn’t get up and down the court. She can’t bring the ball up and score and play defense, so we thought if we gave her a lot to do it might overwhelm her.”
Wheeling Central, the state runner-up last season and the Class A champion in 2008, forced 32 turnovers while committing only 11 and outscored Valley 42-5 in the second half.
“In the third quarter we came out with a lot of determination,” said Kurtz. “We came out, played hard and turned the whole game around.”
McCormick led the Knights with nine rebounds, while Sydney Bennington came off the bench for 10 points and five rebounds.
“We just needed to wake up, and once we got a reality check in the first half, we were fine,” McCormick said. “We got our tempo going and we started running.”
Wheeling Central will face St. Marys in Friday’s semifinal. The Knights were the only team to beat St. Marys this season, winning 57-53 in January.
“When we play St. Marys, it’s pretty much a war out there,” Kurtz said. “We’re very familiar with them and they’re very familiar with us. We seem to play them down here (in the state playoffs) frequently. There won’t be any surprises.”
— C.J. Ricker