Gallery by Heather BelcherĀ
Ashton Parker and Alva Hedrich did not wear capes Thursday night inside the Beckley-Raleigh Convention Center.
The play however from the two WVU Tech standouts could definitely qualify as super human during their respective battles with River States Conference foe, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
Hedrich recorded a double-double to lead the Golden Bear women to a 71-66 overtime win over the Pomeroys before Parker dropped 32 on the visitors in the men’s game.
“It doesn’t matter home or away, win by one or win by 30, this time of year if you can get a win in the league, you take it,” WVU Tech women’s head coach Roger Hodge said.
The WVU Tech women were not only looking to get a key conference win Thursday, but were also anxious to break a two-game losing streak in the process.
Battling adversity all night, the win did not come easy for the ladies in the opener of the doubleheader.
“We were just inconsistent in our play and anytime we had a chance to run out there a little bit we didn’t execute the way we would like,” Hodge said. “I am proud of them for surviving and overcoming a whole lot of adversity. That is what we expect, but at the same time I am really proud of them. We have a great group of kids and I feel like their character really showed through tonight.”
Although the Golden Bears led most of the way early, when the halftime horn sounded, the Pomeroys were up 29-28 thanks to a late 3-pointer from Abbi Parker.
Saint Mary took its biggest lead of the night with 1:42 left in the third quarter following five straight points from Haley Polston off the bench.
Tech trimmed the advantage to five by the end of the quarter, but a quick score by the Pomeroys made it a 44-37 advantage just seconds into the final period.
The home team dug deep and answered with five straight points from Valiyah Yazzie before it cranked the defense up to another level.
Trailing again by five points, the Golden Bears forced a pair of turnovers and got a crucial defensive stop that ignited an 8-0 run, giving Tech a 50-47 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
Aided by a technical foul called on Hodge, the Pomeroys flipped the lead with five straight points as the clock ticked towards a minute left in regulation, but Hedrich had the answer for the Golden Bears.
A strong move inside by the freshman from Germany led to a much needed bucket and an and-1 to give Tech a 55-54 advantage with 1:04 to play.
Kylee Stepp’s straightaway 3-pointer with 18 seconds and a Tech turnover with 9.8 seconds on the clock put the home team in dire straights, down one and Saint Mary headed to the line.
Fortunately for the Golden Bears, only one free throw went down and Rylee Allie was ready to roll with the inbound pass.
Racing down the floor and moving across the lane, Allie converted the drive to beat the buzzer and send the game to overtime.
“People were problem saying, oh, that is a left-handed shot, but that is her kind of shot,” Hodge said. “We are kind of watching her grow up a bit before our eyes. I thought we had a lot of kids that really stepped up in big moments.”
After four ties in the extra period, the Pomeroys took its final lead at 66-65 before the Golden Bears slammed the door on the visitors.
A bucket from Faith Silva put Tech back on top with 51 seconds to play and two free throws each from Hedrich and Yazzie sealed the hard fought win for Tech.
Hedrich battle several bigs from the Pomeroys, but stood the tallest with 18 points and 15 rebounds.
“I thought overall she battled tonight, especially for a team with only one big,” Hodge said in praise of his freshman. “The fact that she is a big kid that can shoot free-throws is really important for us.”
Silva scored 15 for Tech, while Yazzie added 10. Janaya Berry scored eight points, but her biggest contribution came on the defensive end.
“Her intensity, effort and defensive prowess I thought was huge for us. Hodge said about Berry. “She is so wide-open when she is out there that you don’t know what is going to happen sometimes, but she was big tonight.”
In the men’s clash, WVU Tech watched a 14-point first half lead dwindle to one point with under seven minutes to play.
“We are still fighting that complacency,” head coach George Wilmore said. “When we went up 14, we let our foot off the gas and that can’t happen in this conference with so many good teams. We have to stay on the gas consistently.”
Two made free-throws at the 6:48 mark of the second half by the Pomeroys cut the Tech lead back to 70-69 and the home team appeared to be reeling a bit.
That was until Parker beat his defender and drove down the lane on the next possession. The thunderous slam only counted for two points on the score-board, but the momentum gained was immeasurable.
“I told him at halftime that he was the best finisher in the country. He is a matchup nightmare and he cannot be timid,” Wilmore said. “He is one of our best players. We just have to make sure that we are giving him the ball at crucial times. We needed him for sure.”
With the defense chasing Parker everywhere trying to stop him, the junior form South Carolina drew the double team and kicked the ball to sharpshooter Bryce Radford.
The former Woodrow Wilson standout scored 19 points Thursday, but none were bigger than his 3-ball that pushed the lead to eight with just over five minutes to play.
“Ashton has a great basketball IQ. Whether he is setting off-ball screens for people or setting on-ball screens and getting mismatches, he is one of the most crucial pieces to our success,” Wilmore said.
The Pomeroys crawled back within six at one point, but had no answers down the stretch for Parker.
“We just kind of stuck together. It was kind of an ugly game. They want to muck things up and that is working for them. We just had to stay patient,” Wilmore said. “Going to 8-1 at home is a secure feeling for us, but we have to get better to stay up at the top of the conference leaderboard. For us to have that championship mentality, we have to win games like this. We cannot drop off.”
WVU Tech is back inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center Saturday when both teams host Indiana University-Kokomo.
The women’s game starts at 1 p.m, while the men are slated to tip at 3 p.m.
On the men’s side, IU-Kokomo sits on top of the West Division of the RSC with a 14-5 record overall and an 8-1 record in the conference.
Saturday is also FCA Day. All students of any age will be admitted for free. The Class AA state champion Independence football team will be honored at halftime of the men’s clash and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes with have events following the men’s game.