PLEASANT VALLEY, W.Va. — East Fairmont outscored Grafton 24-0 in the second quarter en route to a 69-28 win over Grafton in the Class AAA Region I co-finals. EFHS (16-6) clinched a spot in the state tournament and the seventh-seeded Bees will face No. 2 Spring Valley in the quarterfinal round on March 11.
“We are getting a lot of experience back at the right time,” said East Fairmont head coach James Beckman. “The kids are hungry. I take it back — they’re not hungry, they were starving. They were starving to get back to Charleston. They made the first punch and we didn’t look back after that.”
Leading 16-9 after the opening eight minutes, the Bees shutout the Bearcats in the second quarter to build a 40-9 halftime advantage. A consistent full court pressure allowed East to get several fast break opportunities.
“Turnovers are turnovers and it led to our offense. We wanted to play transition and we wanted to play an uptempo style. They were fun to watch today.
“It is a game of runs. We just weathered the storm on the first one. I thought we held our composure. We were patient in what we did offensive-wise. One of the biggest things we wanted to do this year was run efficient offense. I thought we were patient and got the quality shot we wanted.”
Beckman credited sophomore Audrey Singer for her work on the defensive end of the court.
“We shot the ball well. Singer was all over the floor tonight. With her intensity, she was keeping loose balls and those 50-50 balls and offensive rebounds. She did a lot of dirty work for us to get out and run tonight.”
Senior Ella Thompson scored nine of her 12 points in the second quarter, converting on a trio of three-point field goals.
“That was huge in the second quarter. From the junk defense they were playing to constant change defensive-wise, she came right off the bench, found her moment, she got in the rhythm of the game. She hit some big threes in the second quarter.”
Thompson and Kailee Haymond led the Bees in scoring with a dozen points. Emma Moore and Kasey Rogers each added 11 points for East.
The Bees defeated the Bearcats in their regular season meeting at Grafton, 48-34 on January 31.
“We got healthy. We got a bunch of kids back. We got a little cardio under us. We continued to do what we do.”
East Fairmont will end their season at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center for the fourth consecutive season.
“It means a lot for this program. The kids have worked extremely hard to get there. I am extremely proud of them. With everything we endured this year, for them not to use that [injuries] as an excuse and to find a way, they found a way to get back to Charleston.”
Kenna Keener led Grafton (13-10) with ten points.