MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In the middle of the fourth quarter of Friday night’s girls basketball Region I, Section 2 championship game between University and Buckhannon-Upshur, the homestanding Hawks were up by three, but in a little bit of trouble.
Granted, they had never trailed, and had edged out to a pair of 9-point leads earlier in the game, but the Bucs simply would not go away and were coming on strong. Plus University’s leader Lauren Dean had just picked up her fourth foul.
So, UHS coach David Price had a couple big decisions to make. Sit Dean at crunch time, or risk losing her while trying to guard B-U’s best player, guard Shelby McDaniels?
His answer? Eden Gibson.
The Hawks’ diminutive, lightning-quick guard shifted over to McDaniels to protect Dean, shut her down the rest of the way and hit three huge free throws down the stretch to help UHS prevail and capture the sectional title, 54-46.
University (11-7) was solid in their halfcourt offense early, building a 15-10 first quarter lead, but some timely outside shooting from B-U’s Kenna Maxwell and strong drives from McDaniels enabled the Bucs to knot the score at 16-all midway through the second quarter. Gibson responded with a big three ball and later in the quarter, UHS forward Ella Simpson hit a pair of paint buckets to put the Hawks up by seven at the break 30-23.
A quick hoop by Dean to start the third extended the lead to nine, and University had several chances to put the Bucs away, but B-U (9-6) refused to die, using some half-court trapping to disrupt the UHS offense. The Hawks, settling for contested jumpers, didn’t rebound well, so at the 4-minute mark, their lead was all the down to a single point at 34-33. After a timeout, the UHS offense finally executed with two straight lay-ins from forward Lilly Jordan, and they held a 40-37 advantage heading into the final, pivotal quarter.
Both teams played intense, scrambling defense, forcing several turnovers until Dean picked up her fourth foul at the 4:30 mark. McDaniel hit both free throws after the hack to bring the score to 44-41, and B-U snuck to within two points at 46-44 with three minutes left, but Gibson’s quickness drew a big offensive foul on a moving screen. She hit the front end of the one-and one, but when Jordan snagged a monster offensive rebound, the Bucs had no choice but to begin to foul to stop the clock and extend the game.
It didn’t work, as Dean and Gibson swished all six of their opportunities from the line to put the game away and secure the crown.
After the game, Price summed up his critical choice to keep Dean on the floor in one word.
“Trust,” he insisted. “I trusted her to play the smart and careful, yet still play hard. She’s such a smart player, and such a great competitor, so I knew she’d be better than okay out there.
“And I believed that Eden showed that she’s pretty close to 100% after her foot injury last year,” he continued. “She took on the challenge of marking McDaniels and was just huge for us. We’re so young, and we played a lot of tough teams, so for us to win the Section is a tribute to these girls and how hard they played all year.”
Gibson was all smiles after the game after helping cut down the net along with her teammates.
“When coach told me to take No.1 (McDaniels), I just said to myself, ‘Bring it on,’” she said. “That was what we needed. I know that I’m always giving away inches, so I have to be fast with my hands and my feet. I’m finally back to feeling good, being able to play the way I know I can. It was a really good team win for us, and we’re looking forward to taking the next step and trying to get to states.”
The Section champion Hawks host Wheeling Park at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Region I co-final
Buckhannon-Upshur 10 13 14 9 – 46
University 15 15 10 14 – 54
BUCKHANNON-UPSHUR (9-6)
Shelby McDaniels 4 6-8 15 Kenna Maxwell 3 0-0 9 McKenzie Reynolds 1 1-2 3 Kennedy Samargo 1 0-0 2 Gabby Parke 3 0-0 7 Kendal Currence 5 0-0 10 Totals 17 7-10 46
UNIVERSITY (11-7)
Emily Sharkey 0 1-2 1 Lauren Dean 7 4-4 18 Ashlen Weaver 1 0-2 3 Eden Gibson 2 4-6 9 Aza Boateng 1 0-0 2 Ella Simpson 6 0-0 13 Lilly Jordan 4 0-0 8 Totals 21 9-14 54
3-pointers – BUHS 5 (Maxwell 3, Parke, McDaniels), UHS 3 (Gibson, Weaver, Simpson).
