BLACKSVILLE, W.Va. — With March and state playoffs on the horizon, the Clay-Battelle High girls’ basketball team is on the right track.
Although the Cee-Bees have been battling a lot this year — the loss of their senior guard Rylee Burnette, a young roster and more — they’re primed to make a solid playoff run, as long as their offense holds.
“We’re looking at, ‘Can we get hot any given night?’ ” Clay-Battelle coach David Joyce said. “The difference whether we move on [in the playoffs] comes down to [scoring]. Defensively, we’re solid, but on the offensive side it’s [different] every night.”
The Cee-Bees (12-8) are mainly led each night by a trio of girls, sophomore Liv Ammons, junior Autumn Stewart and senior Joleigh Sollars. Each brings her own unique style to the pine, while also leading the team in different areas.
“Liv is probably the most athletic in terms of she has a variety of abilities: She can shoot, drive, penetrate, play defense and she’s probably our quickest kid. She also has a good head for the game,” Joyce said. “Liv [naturally] fit in, even as a freshman, in terms of ability and her [leadership style]. She’s not a pushy leader. She leads by example. The whole team is friends to the point where there’s never jealousy of another kid if they’re younger.
“Autumn probably plays harder than anyone. She’s the hardest nosed kid in terms of what she’ll give you, which is 110% all the time. She’s unique — the grind-it-out-type kid and will do anything and everything [for the team].”
As for his senior, Joyce notes Sollar’s own adversity in life has helped her grow into one of the most important leaders of his team, what Joyce noted is kind of a “team mom” role.
“Joleigh’s got her own niche, too,” he said. “She’s always been a caregiver for her entire family — her mom passed away last spring — and that flows over into the team. She’s almost a team mom in what she does for us. But she has her own skillset, too. When we need an outside presence, so when she’s on, we win and when she’s average, we’re struggling. She understands the game pretty well, so where she does find limitations, that knowledge helps her stay on the floor a little longer than maybe someone else.”
The trio has led Clay-Battelle in a successful year with 4- and 5-game win streaks interlaced with a few losses. The Cee-Bees have never lost more than two games in a row this season, and Joyce hopes to keep those runs alive heading into the playoffs in March. After its close 44-41 loss to Notre Dame on Monday, C-B finishes out its regular season with two games next week: A road match at Cameron on Monday and a homer against South Harrison on Thursday. Clay-Battelle has already lost to the Dragons once, on Jan. 14, but also beat the Hawks in grand fashion, 50-36 on Jan. 3.
“There are teams in our section that can beat us any given night but we’ve also seen enough of them that we know where we’re at,” Joyce said. “We’re looking at a middle of the road, upper-middle seeding if everything goes the way it should. I don’t see a specific roadblock in front of us, other than what we’re able to or willing to contribute offensively.”
Each team has a player that is either quiet offensively until they have a few explosive games per season, or, in a high school team’s case, a player who’s full stat line doesn’t show up in a box score. For Clay-Battelle, that player is Camren Watson — the Cee-Bee’s leading rebounder and blocker.
“Camren is my biggest girl as far as height. She often has quiet nights offensively, but if you look at the girls I pull for a few minutes, if Cam is taken out of the game, we fall apart. Our chemistry is not there,” Joyce said. “She’s solid enough to bring the ball up-court and play good defense. There’s something about her game that when she’s not in, we suffer. We’re just one or two put-backs from her being a double-digit scorer. If she has the kind of night she has the potential of, she can be that X-Factor.”
