Abel and McDaniels have double-doubles as Lady Bucs crush Lewis County in home opener, 64-27

Duane Carpenter
December 10, 2021

TENNERTON – Freshman Alyssa Abel and senior Shelby McDaniels both posted double-doubles as the Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Bucs made easy work of the Lewis County Minutemaids by a 64-27 score Thursday night at the high school.

Abel had a game-high 16 points to go along with 10 rebounds, while McDaniels had 15 points and 10 assists. It was the second straight game for McDaniels to have 10 assists.

The Buckhannon-Upshur defense did their job as well, forcing Lewis County into 29 turnovers and holding the Minutemaids to a 29 percent night shooting the ball from the floor.

While the Lady Bucs struggled in the first half shooting the ball, it was Abel who had the hot hand scoring 14 of B-U’s 26 opening half points.

“I give all the credit to my teammates,” stated Abel. “We were working together as a team and they did a great job of communicating with me and getting me the ball in that first half.”

The Lady Bucs started out sluggish but never trailed in the game, as it was just a 3-2 contest six minutes into the opening quarter.

Gabby Parke hit a three for the Lady Bucs and Lauren Wyatt hit a lay-up for Lewis County in that opening six minutes.

“We were pretty sloppy in that first quarter and forced way too many shots,” said Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Rob Kittle. “Luckily, we played well enough on defense to keep us in the game early as we struggled offensively. We just weren’t running enough of the offense and forcing way too much in that first quarter.”

Kittle called a time out at the 2:29 mark of the first quarter and his Lady Bucs responded ending the stanza on a 10-0 run for a 13-2 lead.

McDaniels uncorked a three-pointer and Abel scored seven straight points to close out the quarter.

The Lady Bucs led by 10, at 16-6, before going on another 10-0 run, getting baskets from Abel, Kenna Maxwell, Parke, Abel again and Maxwell again for a 26-6 lead with 90 seconds remaining in the half.

Lewis County scored the final six points of the half of as the Lady Bucs owned a 26-12 lead.

After the two teams exchanged baskets to start the third quarter, B-U went on an 11-0 run for a 39-14 lead with 3:50 remaining in the third quarter.

The Lady Bucs still owned that 25-point lead at the end of the third quarter, at 43-18.

The Lady Bucs continued to build on their lead in the fourth quarter, making it a 35-point game following a pair of free throws from Abel, at 57-22.

B-U’s biggest lead was the final score after closing the game on a 7-0 run as Olivia Ellis wrapped up the contest for the Lady Bucs with a three-pointer.

Parke added 12 points in the win for the Lady Bucs while Maxwell and Kendal Currence each had eight points.

Lewis County was paced by Lauren Wyatt who had eight points.

The Lady Bucs have yet to trail in their first two games of the season, and Kittle says getting those first two wins builds some confidence for a team that is starting three sophomores in Maxwell, Parke and Davis (after the pre-season injury to Kiara Woods) and having a freshman (Abel) be their sixth man.

“It is important for them to gain that confidence,” stated Kittle. “They are going to be there in that stretch run for us. If we want to make it to Charleston, it will be because they mature and step up and do the things we need them to do. They have to step up. There are no ifs, ands or buts about it.”

Lewis County dropped to 0-2 on the season.

Buckhannon-Upshur improved to 2-0 on the year and will return to action on the road Tuesday at Lincoln.

“Lincoln is a mystery at this point, but they are always well-coached and well-prepared,” concluded Kittle. “We have the utmost respect for them so we know we are going to have play well to win.”

The Lincoln will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

The boxscore:

Lewis County 2 10 6 9 – 27

Buckhannon-Upshur 13 13 17 21 – 64

Lewis County 27

Lauren Wyatt 3-5 2-4 8; Aleigha Gangemi 2-7 0-0 6; Emma Pickney 3-5 0-3 6; Elleona Stump 2-5 0-0 4; Emma Post 1-7 0-0 2; Ella Pickney 0-1 1-2 1; Lillie Cayton 0-2 0-0 0; Bryn Hunt 0-6 0-0 0; Emily Talbert 0-0 0-0 0; Jaelyn Romans 0-0 0-0 0; Maggie Wyatt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 11-38 3-9 27.

Buckhannon-Upshur 64

Alyssa Abel 6-10 4-4 16; Shelby McDaniels 4-11 5-6 15; Gabby Parke 5-10 0-1 12; Kendall Currence 4-6 0-0 8; Kenna Maxwell 4-11 0-0 8; Olivia Ellis 1-3 0-0 3; Kyndal Davis 1-3 0-0 2; Brooklyn Smith 0-0 0-0 0; Rosie Shackleford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 9-11 64.

Three-point field goals – Lewis County: Gangemi 2-7; Hunt 0-3; Cayton 0-2; Stump 0-1. Totals 2-13; Buckhannon-Upshur: McDaniels 2-5; Parke 2-6; Ellis 1-1; Maxwell 0-3; Currence 0-1; Abel 0-1. Totals 5-17.

Rebounds – Lewis County: Post 7; team 7; L. Wyatt 5; Ella Pickney 4; Emma Pickney 4; Cayton 2; deadball 2; Hunt 1; Stump 1. Totals 33; Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 10; Davis 4; Maxwell 4; Currence 3; McDaniels 3; Parke 3; team 2; Ellis 1; Smith 1; deadball 0. Totals 31.

Assists – Lewis County: Ella Pickney 5; L. Wyatt 1; Post 1; Stump 1. Totals 8; Buckhannon-Upshur: McDaniels 10; Currence 2; Maxwell 1; Smith 1. Totals 14.

Steals – Lewis County: L. Wyatt 2; Post 2; Stump 2; Ella Pickney 2; Talbert 1. Totals 9; Buckhannon-Upshur: McDaniels 7; Abel 5; Currence 4; Ellis 3; Maxwell 3; Davis 1. Totals 23.

Blocked shots – Lewis County: None; Buckhannon-Upshur: None.