By LLOYD COMBS / Staff reports
HONAKER, Va. — Katie Jo Lester had a game for the ages, but it wasnt enough to give her team a win.
Rachel Artrip's free throw with 1.7 seconds remaining lifted Honaker to a thrilling, 68-67, win over Twin Valley in Black Diamond District play Friday night at A.P. Baldwin Gymnasium.
Katie Jo Lester scored 43 points to lead Twin Valley back from a 52-29 deficit to tie the game on three separate occasions in the fourth period.
Brandi Rose hit a free throw to cap a wild, 28-5 run and tie the contest at 57-57 with 4:08 remaining. Lester hit two free throws to tie it at 65-65 with 1:15 left, and tied the game again, at 67-67, with a basket inside with 40 seconds remaining.
A few seconds later Honaker turned the ball over, and Twin Valley (11-6, 4-2) had a chance to take the lead at the line, but missed two free throws with 12.9 seconds left, setting up Artrip's game-winner.
"We played hard making a comeback, and we got a little tired there at the line at the end," Twin Valley coach Rick Goodman said. "But we had two chances to take the lead. That's all we could ask for, we gave ourselves a chance."
Lester scored 29 points in the second half. Overall she contributed 15 rebounds, six steals, three assists and two blocks.
Freshman Haley Brown scored 16 of her team-high 23 points in the first half and Artrip added 12 of her 19 before the break to help Honaker (9-9, 4-2) take a 38-23 halftime lead. They combined for 10 points in a 14-6 run in the third quarter to give the Lady Tigers a 23-point lead.
Twin Valley scored the last 11 points of the third period and opened the final period on a 17-4 run.
"We played so well in the first half and at the start of the second half, but we let the lead get away from us," Honaker coach Trevor Coleman said. "We turned the ball over, missed free throws and missed shots we were making in the first half. We have to do a better job of finishing games."
Emily McClanahan and Rachel Horn hit key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and combined for 15 points for the Lady Panthers. Nicole Roman added 11 points and six assists for Honaker. Rose had seven assists for Twin Valley.
In the boys game, Honaker shot 70 percent from the field and blew out Twin Valley 79-59.
Ethan Davis (16 points) and Blake Gent (17) each hit four 3-pointers for the Tigers, who were 9-of-13 from the floor behind the 3-point arc. Honaker (8-10, 3-3) hit all nine of its treys, on 10 attempts, and forced 13 turnovers, in building a 50-25 halftime lead.
Cory Brown added 13 points. Brandon Viers scored 17 points, while Josh Smith and Daniel Hobbs each added 15 for the Panthers. Smith had 16 boards.
Prep Roundup
PILGRIM’S KNOB, Va. — Chris Tiller scored 15 points to lead Council to a 37-33 win over Twin Valley on Saturday.
Cody Hubbard led Twin Valley with 12 points and Josh Smith had nine points and 12 rebounds.
Twin Valley hosts Hurley Tuesday night.
COUNCIL
T. Viers 6, I. Viers 3, B. Presley 4, Gilbert 6, S. Presley 3, Chris Tiller 15. Total 37.
TWIN VALLEY
Cody Hubbard 12, Hobbs 6, Street 2, Smith 9, Hughes 4. Total 33.
Council..............................10 10 8 9 — 37
Twin Valley..........................9 9 9 6 — 33
3-Point Goals, Council 6 (T. Viers 2, B. Presley 1, Tiller 3). Twin Valley 4 (Hubbard 4).
Prep Boys
Wyoming East 71, Oak Hill 51
BECKLEY — Chase Morgan had 25 points, Alex Webb scored 20 points and added eight rebounds and Wyoming East topped Oak Hill 71-51 for the Class AA Big Atlantic Classic on Saturday.
Evan Muscari had 11 points and nine assists and Andrew Bishop also had 11 points.
Jack Flournoy led Oak Hill with 23 points.
Kalif Wright had 12 points, Thomas Booth had 10 and Deandre Leonard added nine rebounds.
Wyoming East hosts Summers County on Tuesday. Oak Hill hosts PikeView on Monday.
OAK HILL (11-2)
Leonard 6, Thomas Booth 10, Jack Flournoy 23, Kalif Wright 12.
WYOMING EAST (13-1)
Evan Muscari 11, Alex Webb 20, Chase Morgan 25, Schofield 4, Andrew Bishop 11.
Oak Hill...........................11 11 19 10 — 51
Wyoming East.................27 13 14 17 — 71
3-point goals: OH 1 (Booth 1); WE 8 (Webb 4, Morgan 3, Bishop 1).
Girls Basketball
Twin Valley 42, Council 14
PILGRIM’S KNOB, Va. — One night after she broke the school scoring record at Honaker, Katie Jo Lester had 19 points and 18 rebounds as Twin Valley routed Council 42-14 on Saturday.
Rachel Horne added 10 points as the Panthers took a 17-0 lead following the first quarter.
Twin Valley (12-6, 5-2) hosts Hurley on Tuesday night.
COUNCIL
Bostic 5, Leep 3, Geary 2, Stevens 2, Fuller 1, McGlothlin 1. Total 14.
TWIN VALLEY
Rose 5, Rachel Horne 10, McClanahan 3, Katie Jo Lester 19, Keene 5. Total 42.
Council.................................0 6 2 6 — 14
Twin Valley.........................17 8 4 13 — 42
3-Point Goals, Council 2 (Bostic 1, Leep 1). Twin Valley 4 (Rose 1, Horne 1, McClanahan 1, Lester 1).
College Roundup
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Liz Repella scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help No. 11 West Virginia beat Providence 57-59 on Saturday.
Asya Bussie added 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Mountaineers (21-3, 8-2 Big East), who bounced back after an 80-47 loss at top-ranked Connecticut on Tuesday.
Chelsea Marandola led the way for the Friars (13-10, 4-6), scoring 16 points and adding five rebounds.
Mi-Khida Hankins had 11 points for Providence.
Repella, who had 20 points in the first half alone, was 9 of 13 from the field. Needing 14 points to reach 1,000 for her career, the junior guard surpassed the milestone on a first-half 3-pointer, finishing the game at 1,011.
West Virginia never let Providence get close, and effectively put the game out of reach early on behind 57 percent shooting in the first half, taking a 48-32 lead at the break.
Southern Miss 67, Marshall 39
HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Southern Miss senior Pauline Love led all players with 18 points as the Golden Eagles downed the Thundering Herd.
Love was one of three double-digit scorers for Southern Miss (7-15, 3-6 C-USA), who won its third-consecutive Conference USA game after beginning league play at 0-6. Love tallied a double-double, grabbing a game-high ten boards to go with her 18 points.
Chantelle Handy was the lone double-digit scorer for Marshall, tallying 11 points. Erica Woods, Adrian Randall and Tania Walters each notched six.
Saturday’s effort marked MU’s third loss in its last four games and the first time the team failed to score 40 points since December 20, 2005 against Virginia when it tallied 35.
The Herd’s struggles in Hattiesburg continued as the team is 0-5 at Reed Green Coliseum, falling by an average of 20.4 points per game against the Eagles.
Pitt-Johnstown 76, Bluefield State 35
JOHNTOWN, Pa. — Sheena Aden scored 22 points to become Pitt-Johnstown’s 32nd 1,000-point scorer on her way to leading Pitt-Johnstown to a lopsided 76-35 victory over Bluefield State College.
The Lady Cats made it two straight wins and improved to 11-9 overall and 8-7 in the WVIAC.
Laken Coburn paced Bluefield State with 14 points. Kelly Pawlowski chipped in eight points and seven rebounds for the Lady Blues, who fell to 1-19 overall and 1-14 in the WVIAC.
The men’s game finished after press time.
