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SPORTS
Cleveland team tops St. Joseph
HUNTINGTON — Mychal Johnson motioned for Griffin Dempsey to float to the right wing as she ran the basketball up the floor.
Dempsey made the eye contact and set up at her destined spot. The lobbed pass was delivered on point and Dempsey gave Johnson the deserved assist as she drilled a 3-pointer.
In an improvising, know-your-teammate-kind-of-way, it was a beautiful set-up and finish. Two of the area’s top girls basketball players connecting for a play that gave Huntington St. Joe its 44th point, good enough to tie Hathaway Brown with 4:58 remaining in the fourth quarter Friday night at Veterans Memorial Field House.
However, that’s when the fluid offense stopped.
The Hathaway Brown Blazers from the Cleveland, Ohio, area outscored the Lady Irish the rest of the way for a 54-44 victory in the St. Joe Invitational.
“We attacked a couple of times and missed some runners and some floaters,” said St. Joe coach Shannon Lewis. “They’re so long under there, they adjust your shot a little bit. And they were definitely guarding the three. Most teams that are hard to break down, like they were, are going to be able to stay out there and guard you.”
And play a style that can give the opposition fits.
Hathaway Brown, loaded with talent that’s confirmed by its three consecutive Ohio Division II state titles, tried to bully the Irish on the interior courtesy of its three athletic forwards.
Between Vanessa Smith (24 points), Stephanie Poland (16) and Nia Marshall (14), the Blazers had all their scoring.
St. Joe tried to counter with its star backcourt, but Dempsey’s 16 points and Johnson’s 13 weren’t enough.
The Blazers’ game-plan was intended to make it that way.
Dempsey and Johnson went a combined 11 of 34 shooting.
“They guarded us,” Lewis said. “They made it hard every possession. They tried to keep Dempsey without the ball and made it hard on Mychal. They put a big, physical kid on her. It made us hard to get into some stuff.
“But overall, we battled. We were right there. We had our chances.”
In fact, the Irish (9-6), a three-time defending West Virginia Class A state champion, led the entire second quarter.
Despite facing a serious size disadvantage, St. Joe held its own on defense by sinking into a tight 2-3 zone.
The scrappy effort led to just nine Blazer first half field goals.
“We knew we’d end up in the 2-3,” Lewis said. “We tried to match up a little bit and dive down in the post as much as we could.
“They really didn’t shoot that many outside shots. They hit a couple. But we’re not really big enough to match up with them man-to-man.
“Overall, we didn’t do a bad job.”
The fourth quarter started with Johnson re-entering the game with four fouls. The crafty guard kept it that way until the final buzzer, all while directing St. Joe’s comeback.
Her layup and dish for Dempsey’s trey tied things 44-44.
She finished with a team-high four assists.
The Irish’s Asia Petitte just missed a double-double with nine points and nine boards.
St. Joe will return to the Field House at 5 p.m., Saturday, to take on Wayne.
“We just have to find stuff offensively to get us some buckets late,” Lewis said. “Hopefully, we’ll be all right.”
HATHAWAY BROWN 16 5 20 13 — 54: Smith 24, Poland 16, Marshall 14
HUNTINGTON ST. JOE 16 8 9 11 — 44: Dempsey 16, Johnson 13, Lee 6, Petitte 9
CHESAPEAKE 59, WAYNE 38: Amanda Ruffner scored 27 points and she barely ventured outside the lane.
Chesapeake’s star senior forward didn’t spend much time on the perimeter in the Panthers’ win over Wayne.
Why?
Well, she didn’t have to.
The paint and its outskirts were all the comfort spots the Fairmont State recruit needed.
Ruffner hit 12 of 18 field goals.
In a game that was well in the Panthers’ control from the opening tip, Wayne made one serious charge early in the second half.
A Taylor Bartram 3-point play cut Chesapeake’s lead to six with 6:08 to go in the third quarter.
But, no worries, the Panthers had Ruffner.
On two straight possessions, Ruffner hung and hit two-footers from the left block. Less than a minute later, she stepped out to the left elbow to drill a jumper.
By the time the third quarter was over, Ruffner had jumpstarted a 14-2 run that all but did in the Pioneers.
Ruffner also collected 13 rebounds. Her post mate Jordan Porter scored 21 points.
Together, they highlighted a 34-26 Chesapeake points in the paint advantage.
Wayne was led by Sam Queen’s 12 points. Paige Childers grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds.
CHESAPEAKE 15 12 17 15 — 59: Ruffner 27, Nelson 2, Rice 2, Smith 2, Porter 21, Curry 2, Hall 3
WAYNE 4 13 9 12 — 38: Childers 7, Queen 12, Bartram 7, Toney 2, Kelly 4, Ratliff 6
OAK HILL ACADEMY 74, SOUTH CHARLESTON 55: For a half, the Black Eagles were hanging with the national program.
But that was a half.
Oak Hill, from Mouth of Wilson, Va., was relentless in the game’s final two quarters, outscoring South Charleston, 40-27.
The Warriors were led by 6-foot-4 forward Jodie Cornelie. The University of Dayton recruit scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
South Charleston got a team-high 17 points from T’Keyah Allen.
SOUTH CHARLESTON 16 12 14 13 — 55: Tunstalle 5, Allen 17, Gordon 15, Villanueva 16, Mosley 2
OAK HILL ACADEMY 18 16 20 20 — 74: Cornelie 17, Ball 10, Kilpatrick 9, Diop 14, Jefferson 7, Perry 2, Leftwich 4, Davis 11
