Charleston – The task of knocking off Fairmont Senior was a tall one.
PikeView knew that coming in but had done it once before in 2020.
Unfortunately for the Panthers history didn’t repeat itself.
Behind 27 points and 11 rebounds from Mary Ostrowski winner Marley Washenitz, the top-seeded Polar Bears used an 11-0 fourth-quarter run to turn a 10-point advantage into a 21 point margin, eliminating the Panthers 58-39 in the Class AAA semifinals Friday night at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Fairmont (25-1) advances to the Class AAA title game for the second consecutive season where it will face No. 2 Logan on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Trailing by a many as 17 points in the third quarter, the Panthers clawed their way back, cutting the deficit to 11 early in the fourth and eventually 10 with 6:12 left after Anyah Brown converted on three out of four charity tosses.
But the play of Washenitz, who scored six straight over the following two minutes, took away the chance for an upset win.
“I think tonight we did a really good job staying positive when they did go on their run,” Washenitz said. “We were talking to each other and my teammate Cam (Morgan) got a charge and that was a big momentum changer but as for my shots I just played my game. I played the game of basketball and I saw the shot was open and I took it. I think a lot of people know I’m not hesitant to take a shot and the same way for my teammates. I would never get mad at them if they took a shot when they were open and I expect them to do the same.”
Washenitz was firing on all cylinders throughout the evening, turning defense into offense with seven steals.
The pressure and speed of the Polar Bear defense overwhelmed the Panthers from the jump as they forced nine turnovers in the opening frame with five of them coming in the game’s first three minutes. It led to an early 9-2 advantage for Fairmont.
“We can’t simulate in a day and a half their speed and athleticism,” PikeView coach Tracy Raban said. “We knew what was coming and we tried to simulate it as much as possible in the shootaround and I told them ‘I can’t simulate their speed and how quick it’s going to be. Try to take a possession or two to get used to’ but it took us too long to get used to it. We knew that’s what was coming but it’s just hard to simulate their athleticism and speed but our kids fought to the end.”
Leading 24-12 at the 5:15 mark of the second quarter, Fairmont first threatened to pull away in the following two minute stretch, using an 8-2 surge to go up 32-14. A pair of free throws from Cat Farmer were matched by a Washenitz layup but a 3-pointer from Anyah Brown cut the deficit to 15 before the break.
Using a strong defensive effort, the Panthers held Fairmont to one field goal through the first five minutes of the third, using a pair of free throws from Hannah Harden and Hannah Perude as well as a layup from freshman Riley Meadows to pull themselves off the mat.
The sequence of five points from Brown, who scored team-high 15 in her final game as a Panther, cut the lead to 10 before Washenitz nailed the coffin.
Washenitz’s assertiveness was welcomed on a night where Fairmont’s other all-stater, Meredith Maier, was quiet attempting just one field goal over the game’s first 29 minutes.
“I would’ve told you you’re lying,” Raban said when asked her response of she would’ve been told that before the game. “No. 10 (Brooke Craft) did a great job down there. She battled and our girls helped in on (Maier). Undersized obviously, but she knew what the task was ahead of her and she accepted the challenge and she played good defense on her and battled with her all night to make her earn what she got.”
Any hopes for a PikeView comeback were put to bed with 3:35 left in the game as Perdue was called for a charge, fouling out.
“When Hannah went out a piece of me went with her,” an emotional Brown said.
The loss marks the final game in the high school careers of starters Anyah Brown who finish as the only senior class in program history to win multiple state tournament games.
“These two are close,” Raban said. “I could see it all over (Brown) when Hannah went out. Obviously that’s not how you want any kid to go out for their senior year and as close as they are I just made eye contact with Anyah and was like ‘Do it for 12’ and that’s what she did. There’s no bigger bond. I’ve been coaching for 16 years at three different schools and two years now at PikeView and I’ve never seen a closer bond between these two. She took what Hannah couldn’t do and did it for her the last quarter.”
Brown finished with 15 points and seven rebounds while Perdue added nine points to go along with six steals.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
