MORGANTOWN — The Preston County and Trinity Christian girls’ basketball teams met high on the hill in Sabraton on Saturday afternoon in recognition of the annual Make-A-Wish charity game played between the two sides.
The Knights (7-4) used a strong second quarter to pull away from the hosting Warriors (5-4) behind an advantage in the frontcourt for a 51-39 victory. Camryn Sypolt scored a game-high 25 points off of the bench for PHS going 12 for 17 from the field. She was joined in double-figures by teammate Ella White who contributed 10 points with a pair of triples.
The Warriors were led in scoring by Jenna Barnett with 13 points, hitting three from beyond the arc.
The game raises money for the Make-A-Wish foundation, something the schools have been doing for multiple years now and hope to continue going forward.
“Even if we had lost the game, the most important thing would be the reason we are playing,” PHS head coach Brian Miller said. “It’s a great cause that everyone can rally for and we love being a part of it. I think the first five or six minutes we were a little nervous and they did the complete opposite of what we wanted. We got after them a little in the huddle and we told them to start trusting each other and we finally started getting the ball where we needed to win.”
The Warriors led 14-13 after the opening eight minutes, but the Knights hit the glass hard on both ends to take advantage of the size difference down low in the second quarter for a 17-6 advantage in the frame that opened a 10-point lead at halftime, 30-20.
“We should’ve moved to a zone earlier in the second quarter, but we have to work on our mentality at the moment,” TCS head coach Mike Baldy said. “We got beat on the boards every single time and when we go on a scoring drought we tend to shut down as a team and we lose connection with the game and that results in runs for the other team and in a game like this you can’t afford that.”
TCS managed to keep the deficit within reach, responding to a few PHS runs that could’ve extended the lead even further. Other than the 17-6 difference in the second quarter, the Knights only scored two more points than the Warriors over the other 24 minutes of play.
Despite a close second half, the second quarter would prove to be the difference as the Knights earned their seventh win of the season, surpassing last season’s total of six wins.
PHS will host a huge matchup on Tuesday night as sectional foe Bridgeport heads to Kingwood in a game that could play key in seeding when it comes to the sectional playoffs.
The Warriors will also host a big matchup on Tuesday against another area-coverage team in Clay Battelle.
BOX SCORE
Preston 51, Trinity 39
PHS 13 17 11 10 – 51
TCS 14 6 10 9 – 39
Preston – Sypolt 12 1-8 25 White 4 0-0 10 Bishop 1 0-0 2 Nazelrod 2 3-6 7 Miller 3 0-0 7
Trinity – Williams 2 1-2 5 Lynch 3 0-0 8 Barnett 4 2-5 13 Fisher 1 0-0 2 Blake 1 0-0 2 Moore 0 2-2 2 Kurilko 2 0-0 2 Deal 1 0-0 3
3-Pt. goals – Preston 3 (White 2 Miller 1); Trinity 6 (Barnett 3 Lynch 2 Deal 1)
