Joey White for WVMetroNews.com
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – After a hard-fought loss in last year’s girls basketball state championship game to Morgantown, 61-56, Class AAA preseason favorite Huntington has been on a mission to make another run at that title in 2017.
The two teams combined for 42 fouls as the Highlanders missed 10 of their 19 free throw attempts.
Huntington’s 2016-2017 journey began with wins over AA powers Wyoming East and Lincoln, but slipped in game three, falling to Parkersburg South on the road 82-80.
“We had them down by several points and then for about a three-minute stretch we sort of fell apart,” said head coach Lonnie Lucas. “I didn’t say much about it [to the team]; we just came home.”
When Huntington had the chance to avenge the loss in early January, the Highlanders seized the opportunity and dominated Parkersburg South at home, 80-56.
“We didn’t practice for Parkersburg South again,” said Lucas of his team’s preparation for the rematch. “We just practiced what we wanted to do, and it turned out fine.”
Since the early season loss, Huntington entered the week having won 10 wins of its last 11 games, with the only loss in that stretch coming to Spring Valley. At 12-2, the Highlanders are second in the most recent MetroNews Power Index, behind only Parkersburg South.
Lucas credits much of the team’s success to the growth of the four senior starters: forward Jordyn Dawson, and guards Lexi Sheffield, Kearsta Turner and Mariah Harmon.
“The maturity level of the seniors has been great up to this point,” said Lucas. “You don’t have to do much to motivate them to play.”
Dawson, the Xavier recruit and defending player of the year in the state, has anchored the Huntington offense all season, but major contributions from a multitude of players have propelled the Highlanders.
“Jordyn (Dawson) is always going to be Jordyn; she can score in a lot of ways,” said Lucas. “When everybody is trying to concentrate on Jordyn, somebody has to step up and score, and that’s what we’ve been getting.”
And that overall depth was exemplified back on Saturday in a win over Boyd County (KY) as Sheffield contributed 19 points and Harmon added 12 to help take the pressure off of Dawson in a 52-50 win.
Even with all of the success Huntington has had this season, Lucas continues to motivate his team with a sobering reminder of the past: the final stat sheet from last season’s Class AAA state championship game loss to Morgantown.
“I brought the stat sheet home and stuck it up in the locker room, and it’s still there,” said Lucas. “I don’t expect it to go down until they replace it with a better one.”
In the meantime, Lucas and his team will continue move on in the regular season in hopes of making it back to the state tournament, posting a more positive stat sheet in the locker room at the end of the season.
| HUNTINGTON 2016-2017 Girls Basketball Schedule |
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| 1 | 12/02/16 | 12:00PM | A – | WYOMING EAST | 68 | – | 63 | W |
| 2 | 12/03/16 | 7:30PM | A – | LINCOLN | 61 | – | 46 | W |
| 3 | 12/08/16 | 7:30PM | A – | PARKERSBURG SOUTH | 80 | – | 82 | L |
| 4 | 12/13/16 | 7:30PM | H – | ST. ALBANS HIGH SCHOOL | 66 | – | 39 | W |
| 5 | 12/19/16 | 7:30PM | H – | CABELL MIDLAND | 68 | – | 36 | W |
| 6 | 12/21/16 | 7:30PM | H – | HURRICANE | 81 | – | 20 | W |
| 7 | 12/29/16 | 7:30PM | H – | SOUTH CHARLESTON | 53 | – | 43 | W |
| 8 | 01/07/17 | 7:00PM | H – | PARKERSBURG SOUTH | 80 | – | 56 | W |
| 9 | 01/10/17 | 7:30PM | A – | ST. ALBANS HIGH SCHOOL | 73 | – | 52 | W |
| 10 | 01/12/17 | 7:30PM | A – | CABELL MIDLAND | 53 | – | 42 | W |
| 11 | 01/14/17 | 7:30PM | A – | SPRING VALLEY | 54 | – | 71 | L |
| 12 | 01/16/17 | 7:00PM | H – | FAIRLAND,OH H.S. | 58 | – | 39 | W |
| 13 | 01/20/17 | 7:00PM | H – | RIVERSIDE | 76 | – | 46 | W |
| 14 | 01/21/17 | 7:30PM | A – | BOYD CO., KY H.S. | 52 | – | 50 | W |
| 15 | 01/25/17 | 7:30PM | A – | SOUTH CHARLESTON | – | |||
| 16 | 01/27/17 | 7:30PM | A – | HURRICANE | – | |||
| 17 | 01/31/17 | 7:00PM | H – | SPRING VALLEY | – | |||
| 18 | 02/01/17 | 7:30PM | A – | BOYD CO., KY H.S. | – | |||
| 19 | 02/03/17 | 7:30PM | A – | ALEXANDER, OH H.S. | – | |||
| 20 | 02/08/17 | 12:00PM | A – | MORGANTOWN | – | |||
| 21 | 02/11/17 | 7:30PM | A – | CAPITAL HIGH SCHOOL | – | |||
| 22 | 02/18/17 | 4:00PM | H – | MSAC TOURNAMENT | – | |||
| wins: 12 lost: 2 ties: 0 | ||||||||