The Logan Lady Wildcats are rolling as they enter the final five games of the regular season.
Wednesday night they came into their contest with Class AA No. 10 Chapmanville looking to make a statement after being outplayed in a 51-50 win at Chapmanville on January 27.
Logan was determined to not let that happen again as the Lady Wildcats held the Lady Tigers to 12 through three quarters for a 72-28 victory Wednesday night at Willie Akers Arena.
“When we played them last week, our defensive intensity wasn’t where we like it until the fourth quarter,” Logan coach Kevin Gertz said. “We were thoroughly outplayed at Chapmanville Regional. We were determined to not make that mistake again and we pressured them all night.”
Logan got off to a fast start in the first half jumping to leads of 26-5 after one quarter and 48-10 at halftime. The Lady Wildcats led 63-12 after three quarters before the Lady Tigers outscored them 16-9 in the final quarter.
“Definitely wasn’t our night tonight,” Chapmanville coach Kristina Gore said. “Hats off to Logan they had something to prove tonight, and they did putting on a defensive clinic and they shot the basketball extremely well.”
Logan had outstanding offensive balance with three players in double figures and 12 of 15 players cracking the score column. Peyton Ilderton led the way with 19 points while Halle Crouse had 15 and Abbie Myers 12 for the Lady Wildcats, who converted 24 successful field attempts including eight 3-pointers and were 16-21 from the foul line.
“We had great ball movement and made shots like we have been the last week or so,” Gertz said. “Very proud of our team and I love these kids.”
Lakin Parks had seven points to lead Chapmanville and Chloe Thompson added six for the Lady Tigers, who were successful on nine field goal attempts including four 3-pointers and were 6-of-9 from the free throw line.
Chapmanville, who was coming off its first ever win over a Class AAAA school when they defeated South Charleston Monday, fell to 8-9 with the loss and will host Class AAAA George Washington Saturday afternoon.
The Lady Patriots were added to the schedule in place of Lincoln County, who had to cancel Saturday’s contest due to COVID protocols.
Following the George Washington contest, Chapmanville will host Sissonville on Feb. 8 and Scott on Feb. 10. The Lady Tigers will travel to Lincoln County on Feb. 15 and close the regular season at home against Poca on Feb. 16.
Gore is hopeful that Chapmanville can host the Class AA Region 3 Section 2 tournament based on its season sweep of Class AA No. 8 Mingo Central and victory over Class AA No. 6 Summers County, who could be a potential regional championship game opponent.
If the Lady Tigers are awarded the top seed in the sectional tournament, they will be guaranteed a spot in the one of two Class AA Region 3 championship games.
“I’m looking forward to seeing us bounce back and the main thing for us is to regroup, and let this one go,” Gore said. “This game doesn’t affect our goals, which are still well within reach.”
Logan improved to 15-2 with the win and will set their sights on obtaining the top seed in the Class AAA Region 4 Section 2 tournament.
Logan will host Class AAA No. 8 Ripley on Saturday. The Lady Wildcats rallied from a 20-point deficit to defeat the Lady Vikings 72-66 on Dec. 28 at Ripley High School.
Logan will travel to Wayne on Feb. 8. The Lady Pioneers are ranked third in Class AAA and have yet to lose to a West Virginia opponent this season. Wayne defeated Logan 49-39 on Jan. 19 at Willie Akers Arena.
A win over Wayne could not only give Logan the top seed in the sectional tournament, but the Lady Wildcats could win a share of the Cardinal Conference championship with a victory over Wayne.
Both schools will face other and will play Scott in their final two Cardinal Conference contests.
Wayne is currently 8-0 in conference with games against Scott and Logan remaining. Logan is 8-1 in conference and can win the conference outright with wins in its remaining two conference games and losses by Wayne in its remaining two conference games.
“We have started peaking at the right time,” Gertz said.
4(AAA). Logan 72, 10(AA). Chapmanville 28
Chapmanville (8-9)
Daizi Farley 1 0-0 3, Claire Dingess 1 0-0 2, Haley Fleming 1 2-2 4, Chloe Thompson 2 1-1 6, Brooke Christian 1 1-2 3, Laken Parks 2 1-2 7, Aayla Browning 1 0-0 2, Makayla Parsons 0 1-2 1.
Totals: 9 6-9 28.
Logan (15-2)
Natalie Blankenship 2 0-0 5, Allyson Meade 0 2-2 2, Addyson Amick 1 0-0 2, Abbie Myers 4 4-4 12,
Mika Dalton 0 1-2 1, Halle Crouse 5 1-2 15, Camryn Harvey 0 1-2 1, Peyton Ilderton 6 6-7 19,
Emma Elkins 2 0-0 5, Autumn Adkins 1 0-0 3, Payton Butcher 1 1-2 3, Bam Mosby 2 0-0 4.
Totals: 24 16-21 72.
Chapmanville 5 5 2 16- 28
Logan 26 22 15 9- 72
3-point field goals: Chapmanville 4 (Parks 2, Farley, Thompson), Logan 8 (Crouse 4, Adkins, Blankenship, Elkins, Ilderton).