CHARLESTON – The University High School girls’ basketball team saw its season come to an end with a 7–48 defeat to St. Albans in the quarterfinals of the WVSSAC girls’ basketball tournament in Charleston.
St. Albans senior Jaycee Elzy scored a game-high 27 points. Four Red Dragons scored in double figures as they shot 26 of 50 (52%) from the field as a team, including 50% (8 of 16) from three-point range.
Junior Bri Fox led UHS with 13 points. Senior Hannah Stemple added 12 points and eight rebounds in her final game for the Hawks.
“I’m proud of the girls for the way they competed this season and of this senior class for what they’ve done for this program,” UHS head coach Nick Lusk said. “These four seniors came in with me when I started four years ago, and they’ve been everything and more to us.”
UHS will say farewell to an impactful senior class: Stemple, Lexi Simpson, Alexa Johnson, and Julia Maisel, all of whom have played varsity for UHS for three or more seasons.
A 28-6 opening quarter by the Red Dragons was the difference in the contest, as the two teams were even in points (42 to 42) through the final three frames.
St. Albans shot 11 of 15 in the opening eight minutes, nailing five of their eight threes in the game to explode out of the gate to a 22-point advantage after the first quarter.
The Hawks shot just 6 of 23 from the field in the first half, but five converted free throws gave them a breath of life as they won the second frame 12-11 but still trailed by 21 at the break, 39-18.
“We say it all the time; you have just to tip your cap,” Lusk said of the St. Albans shooting performance. “We didn’t execute as well as we should’ve, and they handled the pressure well. Credit to a great team.”
The Red Dragons opened the second half with an 8-0 run that seemed to doom the Hawks with an early dagger.
However, UHS found its rhythm and ran off a run of its own (16-0) to cut the lead to 13 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.
Fox sparked the run with a conventional three-point play followed by a triple by Stemple. Johnson and Stemple then added a pair of jumpers that cut the lead to 47-28.
Fox nailed a triple that forced a St. Albans timeout then Stemple capped the run with her own three-point play.
St. Albans responded well, though, and pulled ahead again with a 12-0 run to slam the door on the Hawks’ comeback bid.
St. Albans advances to play No. 1 Spring Valley on Friday morning in the Class AAAA semifinals. UHS sees its season come to an end in Charleston.
BOX SCORE
St. Albans 70, University 48
UHS 6 12 20 10 – 48
SAHS 28 11 21 10 – 70
University – Fox 5 2-3 13 Stemple 5 1-1 12 Johnson 3 3-4 9 Maisel 2 4-4 9 Cox 1 1-2 4 Hall 0 1-2 1
St. Albans – Elzy 12 2-3 27 Austin-Russell 3 5-11 12 Vance 4 0-0 11 Riggan 4 0-0 11 Reed 3 1-1 7 Hermensdorfer 0 2-2 2
3pt goals made: University 4 (Maisel 1 Fox 1 Stemple 1 Cox 1); St. Albans 8 (Vance 3 Riggan 3 Elzy 1 Austin-Russell 1).
