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SPORTS
St. Joe crowned as Class A champs
The Huntington St. Joseph girls basketball team beat Charleston Catholic on Saturday to win the Class A State Championship.
Purchase this photoCHARLESTON – In the 2008 Class A state championship, Huntington St. Joe took a slight lead into the fourth quarter before watching it evaporate in a loss to Wheeling Central.
One year later, the team proved it had learned its lesson.
Huntington St. Joe scored the first 13 points of the game and used its half-court offense to milk the clock late en route to the school’s first girls basketball state title in a 63-53 win over Charleston Catholic in the Class A championship.
Sara Sang scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while Jill Pulley scored 16 points to finish with a 20-point average for the tournament and earn Class A Tournament MVP honors.
Dusti Chapman and Kiki Smith also reached double figures with 11 and 10 points each.
Huntington St. Joe led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter, but Charleston Catholic cut the margin to 52-44 on a 3-pointer by Maria Femia, who led her team with 20 points. Capen Evans added 19 points in the loss for Charleston Catholic.
Huntington St. Joe started the game on a 20-2 run as turnovers plagued Charleston Catholic early on. However, the margin was too much to overcome as Huntington St. Joe matched each run to earn its third win over Charleston Catholic this season.
Prior to Saturday’s championship game, Huntington St. Joe and Charleston Catholic had met twice – once in the regular season and once in the Class A, Region IV, Section 1 championship. Huntington St. Joe had won by margins of 34 and 21 in those meetings.
The win meant Huntington St. Joe finished the season undefeated against in-state competition with a record of 14-0.
All-tournament team
Jill Pulley, Huntington St. Joe
Dusti Chapman, Huntington St. Joe
Sara Sang, Huntington St. Joe
Maggie Boelter, Parkersburg Catholic
Maria Femia, Charleston Catholic
Lyndsey Nestor, Tucker County
Meg Whalen, Charleston Catholic
Cayla Rhodes, Fayetteville
