Gallery by Tina Laney
Fairlea – Throughout the hard losses and tough shooting nights during the regular season, Princeton head coach Matt Smith and his staff implored their girls to keep believing in each other.
More importantly, Smith wanted his girls to believe in themselves.
Tuesday night, the ladies from Princeton took that message to heart during its Class AAAA Region 3, Section 2 showdown with Greenbrier East.
Watching a 13-point first half lead dissipate into a four-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter, Princeton never stop believing and rebounded for a 56-54 win over the No. 2-seeded Spartans.
With the win Princeton advances to the sectional championship game at Beckley on Friday.
“I told them before the game that I have believed, (assistant) coach (Keith) Taylor has believed, (assistant) coach (Scott) Miller has believed and coach Miz, which is the nickname for our stat guy has believed in them all year,” Smith said. “Just go believe in yourself. They made one (shot) and then they made two and all of sudden they believed they could do this.”
While the Tigers were scoring the first seven points of the game, Greenbrier East was struggling to find the mark with its top two shooters, sisters Cadence Stewart and Kennedy Stewart, stymied by the Princeton defense.
“There is a reason Cadence is going to (Alderson Broaddus University). There is a reason she is an all-state player. Then when they came to us just a couple of weeks ago, we changed up and played a little man. They were running Kennedy off those screens and she was lighting us up. They are phenomenal basketball players,” Smith explained. “So, we went triangle-and-two. I can’t tell you how important (Kalyn) Davis was at the top (of the triangle). She was hedging on that screen and that was her only responsibility. She didn’t allow Kennedy to come free and that was huge.”
Princeton led 16-5 after the first quarter and after Kylie Conner hit a shot to open the second quarter, the advantage was the biggest of the night at 13 points.
“For 22 games we kept telling them they were going to make shots. The only night that mattered was tonight and we made shots,” Smith said. “It was confidence in themselves and each other to know when they got the opportunity, they were going to take advantage of it. If we missed, nobody got down. They kept their head up and believed in each other.”
Needing desperately for someone to step into the scoring role Tuesday, Mackenna McClure came up big for the Spartans.
The young freshman scored 14 points in the second quarter to spark Greenbrier East who pulled within four points at halftime.
“Cadence has been a great player and Kennedy is a great player. We had people setting screens, but we just couldn’t get them open,” Greenbrier East head coach and current West Virginia Governor Jim Justice said. “Mackenna stepped up in a gigantic way.”
The Spartans flirted with the lead in the third period, getting within one point before Princeton moved back out to a five-point lead with one quarter left to play.
The game took a crazy turn on the first possession of the fourth quarter.
Another triple from McClure turned into a four-point play when she was fouled and converted the free-throw.
With McClure, who scored a game-high 21 points, having the game of her young career, Princeton stayed with the game plan and did not waiver.
“That meant they trusted what we were telling them. For the longest time I thought (McClure) never missed. We kept telling them to, stay with (the game plan),” Smith said. “People are going to make shots, but if you just trust and do what we have worked on in practice, it will work.”
A pair of free throws from Cadence Stewart 11 seconds later gave East its first lead of the night which ballooned into a four-point advantage with 4:15 left to play in the game.
Then out of a Greenbrier East timeout, Princeton stole the momentum by forcing a pair of turnovers and getting a crucial stop.
“We basically said that our game plan against the Stewart girls had worked perfectly, but don’t lose (McClure),” Smith said about his instructions during the timeout. “If somebody else goes to shoot, don’t let it be her. We got a couple of steals and rebounded big. That was huge.”
Davis converted the first steal into a bucket before Maddie Stull scored on the next two trips for a 51-49 lead with just over a minute to play. Three made free-throws gave Princeton a five-point lead with 36 ticks left on the clock.
“That was one of the things I was most proud of. We had chances early to extend the lead (but couldn’t). When they come back on their home floor and (went) up four, for us to not crumble and not stop believing in each other, that is why you coach basketball,” Smith said.
East missed the front end of a one-plus-one and could not convert on a possession to tie the game down the stretch.
Stull converted two free-throws for a 56-51 lead that sealed the game with 4.1 seconds to play.
“As far as the three years that we have been here and as far that it means we get back in the gym tomorrow, for our staff, it is the most important win,” Smith said.
Stull and Autumn Bane led the Tigers with 17 points apiece and Davis scored 10 points.
P: 16 15 10 15 – 56
GE: 5 22 9 18 – 54
Princeton
Maddie Stull 17, Autumn Bane 17, Regan Southers 4, Kalyn Davis 10, Kylie Conner 5, Asia Collins 2, Loren Burner 2. Totals: 16-41 19-26 56.
Greenbrier East
Kennedy Stewart 9, Cadence Stewart 8, Caroline Dotson 7, Ryan White 5, Makenna McClure 21, Alizabeth Wooding 4. Totals: 18-47 8-11 54.
