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Paul Adkins

Sports Editor

CHAPMANVILLE — With only three games left in the regular season and a week to go until the Class AA sectional tournament at Logan, the Chapmanville Regional High School girls’ basketball team is hoping to hit the ride stride before post-season play.

The Lady Tigers took a step in the right direction with Friday night’s 60-35 blowout win over Class A Tug Valley in a non-conference makeup game at the CRHS gym.

The game was part of a rare boys/girls doubleheader with the Chapmanville boys, which lost 52-41 in the nightcap to Tolsia in Cardinal Conference action.

Friday night’s contest was the second of a tough three-game stretch in three days for the Lady Tigers. Chapmanville had lost a 41-37 heartbreaker at rival Scott on Thursday night and was scheduled to host Mingo Central on Saturday afternoon.

The win bumped Chapmanville above the psychological .500 barrier as the Lady Tigers improved to 10-9 on the season. Tug Valley dropped to 9-8.

Chapmanville jumped out to a 17-0 lead over the Lady Panthers and made quick work of the former Class AA sectional team.

The Lady Tigers led 20-3 after one quarter, 33-11 at the half and 48-22 after three. Chapmanville coach David Williamson then emptied his bench in the fourth quarter as his team led by as many as 30 points.

Williamson said it was good to put the ball in the basket particularly early on. At times, the Lady Tigers have struggled on the offensive end of the court this season.

“We were 4-for-4 in our first four trips down the court so it was a nice night,” Williamson said. “We didn’t shoot that well at Scott but we came out on fire tonight. We have a tough three-game stretch with games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and we were glad that we go everyone in the game tonight. All 17 players that I had dressed played. Just about everyone got at least four minutes.”

Junior point guard Kristin DesRocher led the Lady Tigers with 12 points. She hit two 3-pointers and dished out four assists. DesRocher was key to Chapmanville’s first-quarter scoring spree.

Senior Katelynn Hall finished with 10 points, while Hillary Hainer had nine points and eight assists. Hailey Price and Codi Conley each came off the bench to net seven points.

Jessica Rideout and Autumn Baisden tallied four each. NeNe Osborne, Savannah Wiley and Adie Lucas all had two points.

No Tug Valley players reached double digits in scoring.

The Lady Panthers were led by Andrea Vance’s eight points. Katlyn Robinson had seven, Emily Baisden six and Cassidy Runyon five. Hannah Armstrong had four, while Abbie Stacy and Amber Linville had two each. Cassandra Griffith had one point. Starter Whitney Evans-Kirk was held scoreless.

Chapmanville brought their “A” Game from the opening tip.

Rideout got it started with a 3-pointer. Then a pair of 17-foot jumpers by DesRocher made it 7-0 Lady Tigers with 6:15 to go in the first stanza.

After a 3-ball from DesRocher, a pair of Hall free throws, a Hainer 10-footer and a 3 by Price the lead swelled to 17-0.

A second 3 by DesRocher made it 20-2.

Tug Valley was able to cut it to 22-6 in the second as Vance canned a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

But that was as close as the Lady Panthers would get.

The Lady Tigers poured it on as Hainer completed an old-fashioned three-point play to make it 29-6.

Hall’s inside-the-paint bucket then made it 31-6 with 3:34 left until the intermission.

CRHS led 33-11 at the half and didn’t let up in the third quarter.

The Lady Tigers’ lead continued to grow in the stanza as Baisden hit a 19-footer, Hall kissed the glass with a 10-footer and Price banked home a 3-pointer to make it 46-19 with 53 ticks left.

Hall hit another short jump shot to up the margin to 48-19.

Chapmanville led 48-22 after three and coasted in the final eight minutes.

After Saturday’s game with the Miners, Chapmanville has just two games left to play in the regular season.

This Thursday, the Lady Tigers travel to Class AAA county rival Logan for a 7 p.m. contest at Willie Akers Arena. Logan downed Chapmanville 66-36 earlier in the season at CRHS. The Logan-Chapmanville game will be part of a boys/girls doubleheader. The Logan boys are slated to face Tolsia in the nightcap at 8:30 p.m.

Chapmanville then has another boys/girls doubleheader next Saturday, Feb. 16 against Sissonville. Game time is 6 p.m. with the boys’ game to follow at 7:30 p.m. It will be Senior Night for the Lady Tigers.

Coach Williamson said his team will be either the No. 3 or No. 4 seed for the upcoming 2A sectional tourney at Logan.

Scott and Tolsia will be the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in either order. Mingo Central is fighting Chapmanville for the 3/4 seeds. Wayne, which has struggled this season, will be seeded fifth.

“For us, it really doesn’t matter. If we are the No. 4 seed it means that we will be able to play an extra game on the field house floor against Wayne,” Coach Williamson said. “The number one seed is up for grabs between Tolsia and Scott. We’re 10-9 now and we’ve been competitive. Six out of our nine losses have been by just 18 points.”

The Lady Tigers are 0-4 this season against Tolsia and Scott but have played the Rebels and Skyhawks closely in all four meetings. Chapmanville lost 56-55 at Tolsia on a buzzer-beater, then lost 45-42 to the Rebels at home. The Lady Tigers also fell 45-42 to Scott at home.

The Lady Tigers won 42-31 at Poca on Tuesday night. DesRocher netted 16 points, while Hall had 12.

BOYS

Tolsia 52,

Chapmanville 41

CHAPMANVILLE — The Chapmanville Regional High School boys’ basketball team dropped to 8-8 overall and 3-6 in the Cardinal Conference with Friday night’s 52-41 loss at home to Tolsia in league action.

Tolsia, a Class AA sectional foe, improved to 12-6, 9-2 with the win. The Rebels entered the night tied for Scott atop the Cardinal Conference standings.

Chapmanville lost its fourth straight game, while the Rebels increased their winning streak to five.

Tolsia led 12-4 after one quarter, 24-12 at the half and 40-31 after three. The Rebels then outscored the Tigers 12-10 in the fourth to set the final score.

Kenny Plumley and Mackenzie Martin led the Tigers with 16 and 15 points respectively. Mike Hurst tallied nine points — all coming in the second half. Zac Casto chipped in with one point.

Terry Davis drilled five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 19 points. Brandon Clark had 14, while Morgan Stacy also broke into double digits in scoring with 11 points. Austin Brewer had six and Morgan Williamson with two.

The Tigers were 16-for-36 shooting for 44.4 percent. Tolsia was 17-for-40 from the floor for 42.5 percent.

The difference was from the 3-point arc in which the Rebels were 6-for-14. Chapmanville was just 1-for-7.

The Tigers held a slight edge in rebounding, 19-17, over Tolsia.

The Rebels turned the ball over just five times to 10 for Chapmanville.

CRHS was scheduled to return to action with Saturday’s home makeup game against Scott. The Tigers then go to Mingo Central on Tuesday and to Wayne on Friday. Next Saturday night, Feb. 16, Chapmanville is set to host Sissonville. The regular season finale is Feb. 19 at home against Man.

Martin leads Chapmanville in scoring this season as he averages 20.2 points per game. He’s also the leading scorer in the Cardinal Conference.

Plumley averages 13.4 points a contest.

Martin also leads the Tigers from 3-point land as he has hit 24 treys on the season. Hurst has made 17 3s.