Princeton – Princeton’s banner school year continues.
The Tigers capitalized on a smothering defensive effort Tuesday evening, toppling Capital 47-38 in a Class AAA Region 3 co-final in Princeton to clinch a spot in next week’s state tournament.
The Tigers are the No. 6 seed and will play No. 3 Nitro on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
Princeton’s chaotic approach paid dividends as the host Tigers held Capital to just 25 percent shooting (13-for-52) from the field, forcing the Cougars to settle for 22 3-pointers.
“If some of them shots fall it’s a different ballgame,” Capital head coach Joe Lambert said. “We did tell our girls to keep lookin for it. I thought we took some quick shots, didn’t work the defense enough first so we’d have an opportunity for rebounds and drives and kicks but that hats off to their defense. They played solid, they rotated well and they knew who our shooters were.”
Princeton never allowed Capital to settle in either. While the Cougars turned the ball over just 10 times, the Tigers’ pressure and traps proved bothersome, speeding Capital up and leading to those quick shots.
“They’re very well-coached,” Princeton head coach Matt Smith said. “They made the adjustments all night. They started sneaking in behind that first line and getting the pass over top so we had to retreat and hang things up. But our defense, you’ve got to play defense every night. A night like tonight when our shots weren’t falling, it’s that defensive end. We don’t do a lot of different looks, we just change where those looks come from. Full-court, three-quarter court to half court.”
Capital’s offense fared well through its first two possessions, taking a 4-0 lead on buckets from Kamari Johnson-Rush and Nunu Pannell but a quick 7-0 spurt that featured four different scorers put the hosts ahead 7-4. Capital battled to a 9-9 tie but a 40-foot 3-point shot from Natalie Rose ahead of the first quarter horn served as a positive omen, putting Princeton up 12-9.
A 6-1 spurt featuring a pair of Tylar Burks bucketsled to an 18-10 Tiger advantage before a Lauren Brisco-Lambert trey quelled the storm momentarily.
Kylee Jackson established the first double digit lead of the game at 25-15 with a 3 but a pair of Pannell free throws brought the visitors to within eight points at halftime.
The cat-and-mouse game persisted throughout the third quarter with Capital pulling back within five at 33-28, missing a 3 that would’ve made it a one-score affair. But Addy McCabe, who controlled the game for Princeton with four steals, seven assists and eight rebounds, found the scoring column for the first two of her 10 points to halt the spurt.
“Addy McCabe brought everything we had to have,” Smith said. “You mentioned not feeling like she scored, when she had to she stepped up at the free throw line. I know she missed two there late – those are big free throws. They cut it under 10 there late and she goes to the free throw line and makes those and you’re kind of like, ‘Okay she’s at 15 or 20 points.’ She hadn’t scored because she did all the other things. Wherever we put her – whether it’s full-court, half-court or wherever, she’s aggressive on top of that press. She’s getting her hands on things, she’s getting people in the right spot and the thing I’ve enjoyed, especially seeing the growth – Addy and I have had a lot of conversations about pace of game.
“When do we go fast? When do we slow down? And she’s seeing that now. You’ve got to remember she’s a sophomore guard being thrown into things. When Abbey (Honaker) was out there, everybody could kind of look to her and now everybody is looking to Addy and she’s stepping up in.”
Trailing 37-28 after three, Capital had one last gasp, scoring the first three points of the final frame to get back within six but a 7-0 Princeton run sent the Tigers dancing with another pair of Kanawha Valley felines.
The Wildcats of Nitro, 2021 and 2024 state champions, have been to the state tournament in five of the last six seasons, finishing as state runners-up last year. Princeton, which hasn’t been to Charleston since 2023, fell to the Wildcats last season but beat them 60-44 on Dec. 13 in Princeton.
“(Nitro head coach) Pat (Jones) and his girls are there every year,” Smith said. “Very talented. The (Brooklyn) Cawley girls is very talented, (Karson) Jones inside is a big presence we’re going to have to deal with because we’re undersized. Picking out where do we help from? That’s kind of where we were successful the first time.
“Listen, Pat’s going to have a new gameplan. He’s not going to sit there and say, ‘Let’s do the same thing and hope it works.’ So we’ll get down and breakdown film and watch obviously tonight’s games and see what they did. Yeah, it’s a familiar matchup but it’s an experienced matchup. I have all the respect in the world for Pat and I know his girls will be ready.”
Pannell led Capital and all scorers with 16 points while Burks and Jackson netted 11 each for Princeton. McCabe added 10.
Capital
K. Johnson-Rush 2, L. Briscoe-Lambert 5, Nunu Pannell 16, L. Brisco-Lambert 9, M. Foye 2, B. Robinson 2, A. Robinson 2
Princeton
Addy McCabe 10, Kylee Jackson 11, Natalie Rose 9, Tylar Burks 11, Brystal Winfrey 6
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