Marcus Constantino/For The Herald-Dispatch Huntington St. Joe's Bailee Adkins (1) and Tug Valley's Alyssa Newsome (20) battle for possession of the ball during the Class A, Region IV, Section 2 girls basketball tournament championship game on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at Hurricane High School.
Marcus Constantino/For The Herald-Dispatch Huntington St. Joe's Bailee Adkins (1) and Tug Valley's Alyssa Newsome (20) battle for possession of the ball during the Class A, Region IV, Section 2 girls basketball tournament championship game on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, at Hurricane High School.
HUNTINGTON ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” Huntington St. JoeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s girls are excited for the state basketball tournament, and that could be bad for the IrishÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s opponents.
A heavy favorite to win its 10th Class A state championship in 13 years, top-ranked Huntington St. Joe (22-1) is ranked by MaxPreps the No. 14 girls basketball team in the nation. The defending champion IrishÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s lone loss was 80-72 to Cincinnati Mount Notre Dame, the third-ranked team in the country, on Feb. 20 in Ironton. By comparison, MaxPreps ranks St. Marys the 4,529th-best team in the country.
Such national accolades might lead a team to become bored with the state tournament. Foes, starting with No. 8 seed St. Marys (16-8) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, can only hope.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™m extremely excited to be a part of states,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ said Huntington St. Joe guard Grace Hutson, a 5-foot-9 junior who averages a team-best 19.5 points per game. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œIÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ve never been a part of a state tournament team before.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
Hutson, the West Virginia Gatorade player of the year, moved in from Christiansburg, Virginia. While she will experience her first potential state title, the rest of the Irish are familiar with the trappings and pressure of the Elite Eight. Senior University of Dayton signee Bailee Adkins averages 10.9 points, 7.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game. Junior Hannah Roberts scores 12.4 points and snags 5.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore Dionna Gray averages 11.3 points per contest, and senior Abby Lee, 9.0.
St. Marys is led by Lara Fetty and Kylie Wright, each of whom averages double figures in scoring. Fetty also is an adept rebounder. While Huntington St. Joe coach Shannon Lewis is familiar with the Blue Devils, he is more concerned with his squad.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œWeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to play the way we play and make adjustments as we go,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Lewis said. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œAs for St. Marys, if youÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re in the state tournament youÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re going to be good. (Coach Howie Meeks) does a good job with them. HeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s a good coach. HeÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™s had them in the state finals four times.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
All four times, the Blue Devils lost to St. Joe ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥” 58-44 in 2010, 56-49 in 2011, 73-32 in 2013 and 83-48 in 2014.
Lewis said his team wonÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t take anything for granted. The Irish usually are the tourney favorites, but lost to Wheeling Central in 2008 and 2018 and to Gilmer County in 2016. Huntington St. Joe is confident, but doesnÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™t feel invincible.
ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re excited to be there,ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥ Lewis said of St. Marys. ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥œTheyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™re a little young, but theyÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥™ll be eager to get after us. The pressure is on us.ÃÛÁÄÖ±²¥
