FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Chapmanville girls basketball coach Kristina Gore knew a lot was working against the Tigers ahead of Friday’s matchup at East Fairmont.
“Their pressure is impossible for us to simulate,” Gore said. “We tried the best we could, but we can’t simulate that. If we could simulate it, then we’d be doing that to teams.”
For as tough as it was for the Tigers to prepare for the Bees’ relentless full court pressure, the visitors had an even greater difficult time solving it.
East Fairmont ran off the game’s first 16 points, led by 23 early into the second quarter and forced 22 Tiger turnovers in the opening half to cruise to a 73-39 win.
“Sometimes they don’t know how to attack our pressure, because it’s not a common thing that people see,” said Kinley Opas, East Fairmont’s lone senior.
Emma Moore scored six of the first nine points and the other production from Kailee Haymond on her first of five three-pointers.
Haymond and Moore had six apiece as part of 16 unanswered East Fairmont (15-4) points to start the contest.
By the time the Tigers (7-10) called their second timeout, they had yet to score and attempted only five shots, while committing nine turnovers.
“It’s our job every night to bring it,” Bees’ head coach James Beckman said. “We want our defense to ignite our offense. Every program that we see has a different style, and that’s sharpening our iron.”
Winners of six straight, EFHS settled for a 19-5 lead through one quarter and quickly upped it to 23 in the second.
Moore scored near the basket and then made a trey, before Hammond converted from close range off a steal and Opas accounted for a bucket in the paint, leaving the Bees with a 23-point advantage 5:56 before halftime.
Chapmanville settled in some offensively when it was able to get the ball into the front court, and five straight points from Savannah Kirk allowed the visitors to trail 30-12.
East Fairmont’s lead was 38-17 late in the half, before Hammond beat the buzzer with a top of the key three.
At halftime, the Tigers had made half of their 14 field-goal attempts, but had 26 fewer field-goal attempts than Beckman’s team
Haymond and Moore did the bulk of the offensive damage, with 16 and 13 points, respectively.
“You can’t relax for a moment,” Gore said. “If you break the pressure and score, you have to sprint back because they’re coming right back at you.”
Haymond continued to shine in the third quarter and scored 10 of her team’s 22 points to help the Bees lead 63-25 with 8 minutes remaining.
Chapmanville scored the first six points of the fourth and 10 of the first 12, while outscoring East Fairmont 14-10 in the final frame. The Tigers’ Brooke Christian scored six points in the fourth.
Haymond led all players with 26 points and made 10-of-18 shots. Moore added 22 points on 10-for-15 shooting.
“Those two feed off each other,” Beckman said.
Kasey Rogers contributed eight points and a game-high eight assists in the victory.
“Kasey was able to find those girls in transition and she passed the ball extremely well,” Beckman said.
Christian led Chapmanville with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
“They could’ve rolled up like an armadillo and just rolled on away, but they kept fighting,” Gore said. “They fought for four quarters, but didn’t stay composed for four quarters. You have to be able to do that if you’re going to stay close to a team like East Fairmont.”