Gallery by Greg Barnett
Tuesday’s sectional opener between Oak Hill and Princeton followed a familiar blueprint for the latter team.
Dusting off the game plan that led to a state tournament appearance a year ago, the host Tigers shot just 25 percent from the floor but held Oak Hill to a minuscule 15 percent, ending the Red Devils season with a 43-22 victory in Princeton.
With the win Princeton will host Greenbrier East in the sectional championship Thursday at 7:30, with the winner earning the right to host a Region 3 co-final while the loser hits the road for the other co-final.
For the Red Devils, there was no late let down. They struggled to score from the jump and didn’t register a point until five minutes into the game, missing their first six shot attempts along the way.
By the time they scored Princeton boasted a 9-0 lead.
“It’s been the story of our season all year,” Oak Hill head coach Darrell Compton said. “No lie, we couldn’t score but we can stop teams. We always talked about if we can hold teams under 50 points we should win, but it was hard for us to get over the 40 mark. So I mean, we did okay as the season went along, winning some games that way. But hats off to Princeton and they made some shots. And we just didn’t. Cara Smith you know she’s pretty dominant underneath for us but she was in a car wreck yesterday. So she’s a little tired but when the shots don’t go in you kind of see the life going out of them a little bit and I think that’s what really hit the girls a lot.”
Taysia Gray’s 3-pointer broke the ice for Oak Hill and momentarily appeared to be the spark the visitors needed as they trailed 14-7 going into the second quarter but all their offensive momentum died on the vine as they converted on just 2 of 16 shots attempts in the second frame.
Comfortable with that style, Princeton methodically built a 22-11 advantage at the intermission, relying on its defense and rotations. Both worked efficiently as the Tigers held Gray to 0 of 13 shooting after the first quarter, making life difficult for the Red Devils’ top scorer.
“I feel like I tell you this every time we talk but defense never takes nights off,” Princeton head coach Matt Smith said. “I mean, some days you shoot better than others, but if you play good defense, you’re never out of a game. And I didn’t know our shooting was that poor. But I knew our defense was that good. And that’s what the game plan was and Taysia’s a heck of a guard. But I got a heck of a defensive guard to put on her. And that’s our biggest thing and then credit to Carley Hurt. Being able to put her on the (Cara) Smith and free Maddie (Stull) up some to kind of help off some and protect the rim and rebound. Her emergence on the defensive end has been huge. You can’t you can’t give that kid enough credit for what she’s done. Defensively it’s just allowed us to be more creative. So yeah, I mean our defense is what’s going to win us basketball games.”
The one area Princeton was able to efficiently find points was at the free throw line which helped it pull away in the third quarter. The Tigers converted on 5 of 6 attempts from the charity strip in the third quarter and 15 of 22 throughout the evening.
The five in the third quarter helped the hosts build a 29-15 lead with Stull connecting on three of them and Kalee Wright adding the other two. A jumper from Alli Parks later pushed the advantage to 16 and it never fell below 14 the rest of the way.
The Tigers now turn their attention to a sectional foe they’ve developed a steady rivalry with in Greenbrier East. The Tigers eliminated East in the first round of last year’s sectional tournament and split with the Spartans this season, taking their matchup in Princeton back in December.
“They’re night and day, especially (Ava) Workman as far as the basketball player goes,” Smith said. “So now you got to give her more of your time then maybe you did early in the season. Again, it’s sort of like tonight. We’ve got our eye on a couple of people that if we can, you’re not going to stop them from scoring. But if you can slow them down, and then we rebound the basketball it will be fun. We’ve gotta find ways to free Maddie up to rebound because they do a great job and I’m sure you’ve seen them. They rebound the backside of the offensive glass better than any team we play. And so we can free Maddie up to kind of help with that. We have ideas when we’re going home to do homework. So it’s gonna be a late night but it’s a fun night because we’re guaranteed two more and like I told the girls in the locker room, the greatest thing a coach will tell you after the first round of sectionals is we have practice tomorrow, so we’ll get at it tomorrow. We as coaches, we’ve got a lot of homework to do tonight to get us and get our girls ready for East on Thursday.”
Asia Collins was the only scorer in double figures, netting 11 for the Tigers. Maddie Stull finished with 15 rebounds.
OH: 7 4 6 5 – 22
P: 14 8 9 12 – 43
Oak Hill
T. Gray 5, C. Smith 5, A. Williams 5, K. Compton3, J. Wilburn 2, P. Light 2
Princeton
K. Wright 6, K. Conner 6, M. Stull 8, A. Server 2, A. Parks 7, A. Collins 11, C. Hurt 3
