Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
CHAPMANVILLE Jaycee Blair scored 19 points and hauled down 10 rebounds to lead Class AA No. 8 Chapmanville to a 68-40 win over rival Scott on Monday at the Danny Godby Gymnasium.
Blair, one of three players to reach double figures, was due a big night according to coach Kristina Gore.
“I told the girls in the locker room that I was lying in bed last night and I was thinking about Jaycee and how it was time for her to have a breakout night,” Gore said. “She is capable of that, and she has been a little bit passive the last few games and hasn’t gotten a lot of minutes because of it.”
“I spoke to her before the game about being aggressive and taking the ball to the basket, looking to score because that is the type of player she is,” Gore said. “If she can continue to show up and play like that it is going to add a lot of value to the team, but I was really happy to see that out of her tonight.”
Blair had 16 points in the second half and finished 7 of 11 from the floor. Daizi Farley added 18 points, Haley Fleming had 10 and Jaiden Mahon finished with seven points, 10 rebound and four blocks. Farley and Fleming combined for seven 3-pointers for Chapmanville, who played without leading scorer Alaira Evans, who was out due to illness.
“We had a lot of girls sick this weekend, which didn’t help us much against Robert C. Byrd, they are legit and of course that hurt us,” Gore said. “We had a couple of girls push through tonight and Alaira really needed that break. She wasn’t feeling well at all so I am hoping with a few days rest that she will be ready to go Wednesday.”
Chapmanville never trailed and scored the game’s first 13 points before Scott finally broke through with its first points of the contest on Cheyenne Robinson’s 3-pointer with 4:37 to play in the first quarter. Chapmanville made 10 of 20 shots from the field, knocked down five 3-pointers and led 28-9 after one quarter of play.
“When a team comes out shooting like that, it’s hard to do anything with them,” Scott coach Kevin Harper said. “They are a really good team, they have shot really well in all of their games, they are more of a driving team and tonight they were a good shooting team.”
Scott had a chance to cut the deficit in the second quarter as Chapmanville missed 13 of its 17 shots in the quarter, however, the Lady Skyhawks were only able to draw within 15 points, 31-16, on Robinson’s basket with 2:09 to play before halftime.
The Lady Skyhawks struggled from the field in the first half making just 6 of 33 field goal attempts and was just 2 of 13 from beyond the arc.
“We didn’t have a good shooting night and if we could get some more baskets to fall it is a lot closer game,” Harper said. “We just didn’t shoot well at all tonight.”
Kelsey Harper led Scott with 13 points while Haven Tomblin scored 10 and Robinson nine for the Lady Skyhawks, who were 14 of 71 from the field and allowed a season-high 68 points.
Chapmanville tied a season-high in points (68) and set season highs in blocks with eight and assists with 21 on 25 made baskets.
“We shot the well, we shot the ball with confidence and forced them into some turnovers,” Gore said. “I love when we share the ball, move the ball around and we had quite a few assists tonight. Our season high was 18 and that is a stat that I am most proud of when I see it.”
Scott (4-6) will look to snap a three-game losing streak when they return to action Saturday evening at sectional rival Lincoln County.
“It is a sectional opponent, and it is a big game for us. We got to back in the gym and get ready to play Lincoln County on Saturday,” Harper said. “It will help determine seeding in the sectional tournament.”
Chapmanville (8-4) returns to action Wednesday night at county rival and Class AAA No. 7 Logan.
“Chapmanville and Logan is always a big game and I have a lot of respect for Kevin (Gertz) for the way he runs his program,” Gore said. “He gets a lot out of his girls; they play extremely hard, and I expect that to be a close one regardless of what they lost and what we return.”
Gore added that her Lady Tigers need not pay attention to Logan’s 5-6 record. Five of Logan’s six losses have come against ranked competition. The Lady Wildcats have lost Class AAA co-No. 3s North Marion and Ripley, No. 5 Robert C. Byrd and No. 6 East Fairmont as well as Class AA No. 1 Wyoming East.
“They have played a lot of tough games and they play a tough schedule like we do,” Gore said. “I know that their record is not as indicative of how good of a team they are. I know they will fight for 32 minutes and it is definitely not a team that you should look over.”
Chapmanville 68, Scott 40
Scott (4-6)
Harper 4-15 1-2 13, Tomblin 3-14 1-2 10, Robinson 4-21 0-0 9, Butcher 2-15 2-3 6, Roberts 1-4 0-2 2, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, . Totals: 14-71 4-9 40.
Chapmanville (8-4)
Blair 7-11 4-7 19, Farley 6-13 1-2 18, Fleming 4-10 0-0 10, Christian 3-7 1-2 8, Mahon 2-12 2-2 7, Thompson 1-4 0-0 2, Parsons 1-1 0-2 2, Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Kirk 0-1 0-0 0, Parks 0-2 0-0 0,
Pritchard 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-66 8-15 68.
Scott 9 9 7 15- 40
Chapmanville 28 10 11 19- 68
3-Point Field Goals_Scott 8-35 (Harper 4-12, Tomblin 3-10, Robinson 1-6, Butcher 0-5, Smith 0-2), Chapmanville 10-33 (Blair 1-4, Farley 5-12, Fleming 2-4, Christian 1-3, Mahon 1-6, Smith 0-1, Kirk 0-1, Parks 0-1, Pritchard 0-1).