Gallery by Tina Laney
Oak Hill – Webster County guard Sydney Baird is no stranger to extra defensive pressure.
Thursday night, the Highlanders used that extra attention to their advantage in the Class A Region 3, Section 2 championship game against Greenbrier West.
Pounding the ball inside with crisp passing and penetration from Baird, Webster County never trailed in a 59-31 win.
“Part of our game plan was to get it into our bigs. We have really good bigs and if we can get it into them, they can make it,” Webster County head coach Sharon Baird said. “We figured they were going to try and shutdown Sydney and maybe Holly (Perrine) as our shooters. We worked on pounding it inside and getting points from those girls.”
A basket and two free throws from Natalie Snyder and a score from Madison Hamrick gave the Highlanders a 6-2 lead midway through the first period.
Baird’s steal and ensuing layup made it a six-point game before Maddie Fields cut the lead in half with a put back on the other end.
An old fashion three-point play inside by Snyder and a score by Ava Durham off an assist from Baird, gave Webster a 13-4 lead after the first eight minutes.
“I thought we got off to a little bit of a slow start with the big atmosphere. It was extremely loud and I think the nerves hit us a little bit in the beginning,” coach Baird said. “Once we settled down, we got it going by the end of the first quarter. We picked it up a little bit (more) in the second quarter, then in the third quarter that is really where we stepped into it and got back into our game.”
The Cavaliers stayed within shouting distance of the Highlanders in the second quarter, but six made free-throws from Baird and a step-back 3 from the junior all-stater inside 10 seconds made it a 16-point lead at halftime.
“I thought we came out and played hard. I thought we executed pretty good on defense. Baird is hard to stop. She is a baller,” Greenbrier West head coach Mark Agee said. “If we could have accomplished that, I think things would have changed a little bit for us.”
Although Baird led Webster with 15 points on the night, the damage that was done by her supporting cast was the difference in the game.
“This isn’t the first time we have seen a box-and-1 or added pressure on me. My girls are getting a lot more comfortable shooting the ball and handling the ball,” Sydney Baird said. “I just try to find them so we can get some easy points. I know our bigs can finish and getting the ball inside gets us those easy points That is what we wanted to do.”
One of the main benefactors of the game plan was Snyder who scored two of her 14 points on the opening possession of the the second half.
When the Highlanders weren’t dumping the ball inside to Snyder or hurting West with extra chances from offensive rebounds, they were drilling key 3-pointers to increase their advantage.
A long ball and a deuce from Hannah Cutlip along with four points from Baird capped a 12-2 start to the third quarter.
Webster hit six 3-pointers in the game, three from Cutlip, two from Perrine and one from Baird.
“That is what we need. If they are shutting Sydney down, she has four other players she can get it to and they can score for us,” coach Baird said. “One thing we have been stressing here lately is our rebounding because we have had some issues with that. We have to rebound offensively and get put backs or draw the fouls.”
When the third quarter horn sounded, Webster County led 46-21.
“We took some good shots, but our shots didn’t fall and theirs did. It was a hard fought game and I am still proud of my girls. I think they worked hard and I think they did what we tried to do,” Agee said. “We didn’t close out on them very well and that is one of the things that made a difference in the game. We also talked at halftime that they couldn’t continue to get second and third chances, but they still did.”
Both teams advance to next Wednesday’s regional co-final.
Webster County will host the loser of the Friday’s River View and James Monroe sectional championship game. The winner of that game will host Greenbrier West.
Regional co-final winners advance to the state tournament, March 8-12, in Charleston.
GW: 4 10 7 10 – 31
WC: 13 17 16 13 – 59
Greenbrier West
Meagan Poticher 6, Ava Barclay 2, Brooke Nutter 2, Maddie Fields 5, Abigail Thomas 6, Preslee Treadway 12. Totals: 14 2-15 31.
Webster County
Natalie Snyder 14, Holly Perrine 7, Brennan McCormick 1, Madison Hamrick 3, Ava Durham 6, Hannah Cutlip 11, Sydney Baird 15. Totals: 18 15-26 59.
3-pointers – GW: 1 (Fields); WC: 6 (Perrine 2, Cutlip 3, Baird).
