Charleston – Third time’s the charm, luck of the Irish or perhaps just simple preparation.
All were in play Saturday morning as No. 3 Charleston Catholic avenged a pair of regular season defeats, toppling top-seeded Wheeling Central 55-41 in the Class AA state championship game at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Charleston held their fellow Catholics to just 32 percent shooting (16-of-50) from the field in the win, limiting Central standout Kaitlyn Blake to 6-of-18 shooting. She was the only Maroon Knight to score in double figures.
“I thought we were able to contain Blake,” Charleston Catholic head coach Wes Hevener said. “She’s a fantastic basketball player and I thought probably the biggest difference today was our ability to be where we needed to be on the backside help with our defensive pressure. Then also I thought in the second half our girls did a fantastic job of rebounding the basketball, which, holding them to one possession and then getting back on offense was great.”
Central led briefly at 4-2 but yielded an 11-0 run peppered with 3s by Ali Wilcox and Molly Messer.
The lead stood at 18-8 after a quarter and ballooned to as many as 15 early in the second when Mary Rushworth canned a 3 and a pair of free throws. Central leaned on Blake and Erin Maxwell to engineer a run in the paint that brought it back to within six points at 28-22 at the break.
The Maroon Knights continually chipped in the third, getting to within a point when Seneca Heller nailed a 3 to make it 32-31 but a 9-2 run to close the frame, keyed by Rushworth and Aureila Kirby lifted the Irish to a 41-34 lead.
Central never got back within a possession the rest of the way, shooting 3-of-12 from the floor in the final quarter.
The win marks the first title for the girls basketball program at Catholic since 2007.
“I thought they came out from the opening tip and were extremely locked in,” Hevener said. “Defensively, I thought we handled our assignments almost to perfection. They did a great job of making sure they were where they needed to be defensively. Offensively, I thought we were very fluid, I thought the ball moved, thought we did a great job of getting the shots that we wanted from the defense, and again, I couldn’t be more proud of the way these girls played.”
Rushworth led the Irish with 16 points while Messer (15) and Wilcox (11) also scored in double figures.
Earning Class AA all tournament team honors were Brynnley Bulluck (St. Marys), Mya Dunlap (James Monroe), Molly Messer (Charleston Catholic), Seneca Heller (Wheeling Central), Ali Wilcox (Charleston Catholic), Addie Payton (Wheeling Central), Mary Rushworth (Charleston Catholic) and Kaitlyn Blake (Wheeling Central).
Blake earned tournament MVP honors for the second consecutive year.
