MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — No. 9 University redeemed its early-season loss to Huntington, downing the No. 6 Highlanders, 45-37.
The Hawks’ solid defense limited HHS to just two second-half field goals, and University cobbled together just enough patient offense to grind out the win.
The Hawks (8-4) held an early lead, but a pair of threes from the Huntington backcourt allowed the Highlanders to take a 12-11 lead after one quarter. University started to click in its half-court offense when Mallory Napolillo worked the high post to feed Ashten Boggs on slashes to the hole, or to use some nifty post footwork to generate her own shots. The tandem’s solid first half pushed the Hawks to a slim 23-20 advantage at the break.
Neither team was surrendering any easy baskets in the second half, as the UHS pressure forced several turnovers, while towering Highlanders center Madison Slash racked up multiple blocked shots in the paint. At the midway point of the third quarter, UHS had outscored Huntington just 4-1. When HHS had pulled to within one point at 27-26, Napolillo stepped out and canned a huge triple, much to her own amazement, helping the Hawks to maintain a 31-27 lead after three.
A scary moment for UHS came late in the third, when Boggs appeared to roll her ankle badly enough that she had to be helped off the court. But she re-entered at the 6:35 mark of the final quarter, and seemed to be relatively pain-free the rest of the way. The Hawks managed to keep the Highlanders at bay down the stretch, never allowing the lead to dip below four.
After the game, Napolillo discussed the benefits of purposeful practice, and the joy of seeing it pay off when it matters most.
“We really worked hard on cleaning up some of the little things we weren’t doing right,” she said, “but you can never replicate gametime during practices. So for us to play well and beat a good team, especially after they beat us earlier in the year — that feels pretty good.”
UHS coach David Price enjoyed being a part of the battle between two good teams.
“It was physical out there, but that’s the way games can go sometimes,” he said. “I thought we played well on defense again, like we have all year. We’ll take this good win, but then it’s back at it for our next one.”
In the JV game, the Highlanders pulled away late for a 42-33 road win. Maddie McClurg led the UHS with 10, matching HHS’s Diajahnae Anderson for high scoring honors.
The Hawks hope to avenge another early-season loss when they travel to Wheeling Park Tuesday night.
HUNTINGTON (8-4)
Swann 4 2-4 11; Jackson 3 4-6 10; Turner 1 3-6 5; Slash 2 0-0 4; Goodson 2 2-2 7. Totals: 12 11-18 37.
UNIVERSITY (8-4)
Boggs 5 10-20 20; Coen 3 0-0 6; Napolillo 6 1-2 14; Gibson 1 0-0 2; Sharkey 1 0-0 3; Totals: 16 11-22 45.
HHS 12 8 7 10 — 37
UHS 11 12 8 14 — 45
3-pointers: HHS 2 (Swann, Goodson), UHS 2 (Sharkey, Napolillo)
