FAIRMONT – The No. 8 Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Bucs are off to a 2-0 start to the season after a pair of wins last week.
The Lady Bucs opened their season with a 47-36 road win against Fairmont Senior last Wednesday and followed that up the next day at home with a 64-54 win over the Lincoln Cougars on Thursday.
The opener with Fairmont Senior wasn’t a thing of a beauty as the two teams combined to turn the ball over 68 times as Fairmont Senior had 35 and the Lady Bucs 33.
B-U turned over the Polar Bears 10 times in the first quarter as they raced out to a 15-point lead.
B-U went up 5-1 early but the Polar Bears scored seven straight for an 8-5 lead with 4:33 showing on the first quarter clock.
B-U kept the Polar Bears off the scoreboard the rest of the quarter and went on an 18-0 run for a 23-8 lead.
An old-fashioned three-point play from Kenna Maxwell kept the Lady Bucs up by 15, at 26-11, early in the second quarter.
B-U then got sloppy with the ball with 12 second-quarter turnovers and let Fairmont Senior back into the game with a 9-2 run to close the half making it a 28-20 contest at the break.
The two teams traded baskets most of the third quarter as B-U held a 37-30 lead heading into the final eight minutes of the game.
The Lady Bucs saw their lead shrink to three points, at 37-34, but Alyssa Abel scored from underneath, and after a Fairmont Senior free throw, Kyndal Davis scored on a lay-up to put B-U back up by six, at 41-35, with 4:06 left in the game.
A free throw by Gabby Parke put the Lady Bucs up by 10, at 45-35, as that capped off a 6-0 run for B-U with 1:53 left in the game.
Parke added a pair of free throws in the final 25 seconds of the game to secure the win for the Lady Bucs.
Parke led the Lady Bucs with 12 points while Abel added 11 and Davis 10.
Sadaya Jones led all scorers for Fairmont Senior with 15 points.
Against Lincoln, the Lady Bucs never trailed in the game.
Behind a putback from Kendal Currence and two straight hoops by Maxwell, the Lady Bucs raced out to a quick 6-0 lead and led 14-7 after one quarter of play.
A 9-2 run to start the second quarter by Lincoln tied the game at 16-16, but Maxwell hit back-to-back three pointers extending the B-U lead out to six, at 22-16 with 1:11 left in the half.
The Lady Bucs took a 24-20 lead into the intermission.
Leading 27-23, the Lady Bucs went on a 15-2 run over a three-minute period taking a 42-25 advantage with 3:46 left in the third quarter.
Buckhannon-Upshur saw their lead shrink down to 10, at 46-36, heading into the final quarter, after an 11-4 run by Lincoln.
A lay-up by Currence and a basket from underneath by Maxwell pushed the B-U lead to 14, at 50-36, to start the fourth quarter.
A free throw by Lincoln’s Megan Tucker trimmed the B-U advantage down to just six, at 55-49, with 2:09 left to play, but the Cougars couldn’t get any closer as the Lady Bucs ended the game with a 9-5 run.
Currence led the Lady Bucs with 23 points while Maxwell put in 20.
Abel contributed with eight points and 13 rebounds.
Ashlyn Riley led all scorers for Lincoln with 24 points.
“I am happy we are 2-0 but we have so much room for improvement right now,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Rob Kittle after the Lincoln game. “Honestly, we aren’t playing very good basketball right now. Luckily we have fought and won two games, but we have to get better defensively, start flying around to the ball, and offensively, we have to start getting into our sets. The good news we have tremendous room for improvement. We have to start getting better with each game.”
The Lady Bucs were slated to play Parkersburg this past Saturday at Trinity High School.
Their contest with Lincoln scheduled for this Wednesday was postponed.
They will return to action this Friday hosting Preston at 7:30 p.m.
The boxscores:
Buckhannon-Upshur 23 5 9 10 – 47
Fairmont Senior 8 12 10 6 – 36
Buckhannon-Upshur 47
Gabby Parke 4-12 3-7 12; Alyssa Abel 5-11 1-2 11; Kyndal Davis 5-8 0-0 10; Kenna Maxwell 2-6 3-3 7; Kendal Currence 1-3 4-4 6; Casadie Lahman 0-0 1-3 1; Hodge’Nay Henderson 0-3 0-0 0; Brooklyn Smith 0-0 0-0 0; Rosie Shackleford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-43 12-19 47.
Fairmont Senior 36
Sadaya Jones 6-18 3-11 15; Claira Hager 1-7 4-6 7; Charlee Beresford 2-4 1-2 5; Camryn Morgan 2-4 0-0 4; Sophie Starn 0-3 3-4 3; Bree Copney 1-1 0-0 2; Eliana Price 0-0 0-0 0; Jocyln Sylva 0-0 0-0 0; Takia Daniels 0-0 0-0 0; Abby Shuck 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-38 11-24 36.
Three-point field goals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Parke 1-4; Maxwell 0-3; Henderson 0-1. Totals 1-8; Fairmont Senior: Hager 1-5; Jones 0-6. Totals 1-11.
Rebounds – Buckhannon-Upshur: Lahman 6; Davis 5; Abel 4; Currence 4; Parke 4; team 2; Henderson 1; Maxwell 1; Smith 1, deadball 1. Totals 29; Fairmont Senior: Jones 14; team 4; deadball 4; Copney 3; Morgan 3; Sylva 3; Hager 2; Beresford 1; Starn 1; Price 1. Totals 36.
Assists – Buckhannon-Upshur: Lahman 4; Parke 4; Henderson 2; Maxwell 1; Abel 1; Currence 1. Totals 13; Fairmont Senior: Hager 3; Jones 2; Starn 1; Morgan 1. Totals 7.
Steals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Currence 9; Henderson 5; Lahman 4; Abel 2; Davis 1. Totals 21; Fairmont Senior: Jones 4; Starn 2; Hager 1; Beresford 1. Totals 8.
Blocked shots – Buckhannon-Upshur: Parke 1. Totals 1; Fairmont Senior: Jones 3; Hager 1. Totals 4.
Fouls – Buckhannon-Upshur: 19; Fairmont Senior: 22
Turnovers – Buckhannon-Upshur: 33; Fairmont Senior: 35.
Lincoln 7 13 16 18 – 54
Buckhannon-Upshur 14 10 22 18 – 64
Lincoln 54
Ashlyn Riley 10-23 3-4 24; Brooklyn Davisson 3-8 2-2 9; Sadie Adams 3-6 0-0 8; Megan Tucker 1-3 6-10 8; Hope Blackwell 2-4 0-0 4; Elder 0-5 1-2 1; Sylvie Salerno 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-52 12-18 54.
Buckhannon-Upshur 64
Kendal Currence 9-17 5-8 23; Kenna Maxwell 7-14 3-5 20; Alyssa Abel 4-15 0-2 8; Gabby Parke 2-6 1-2 6; Kyndal Davis 2-6 1-2 5; Casadie Lahman 1-4 0-0 2; Hodge’Nay Henderson 0 0-0 0; Brooklyn Smith 0-0 0-0 0; Rosie Shackleford 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 10-19 64.
Three-point field goals – Lincoln: Adams 2-3; Davisson 1-4; Riley 1-10; Adams 0-1; Salerno 0-3 Totals 4-21; Buckhannon-Upshur: Maxwell 3-8; Parke 1-3; Lanham 0-2; Currence 0-3. Totals 4-16.
Rebounds – Lincoln: Riley 9; team 7; Elder 5; Tucker 5; Blackwell 4; Davisson 3; Salerno 3; Adams 2; deadball 2. Totals 40; Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 13; Parke 9; Currence 8; Lanham 4; Maxwell 3; Davis 3; Smith 2; deadball 2; team 1. Totals 45.
Assists – Lincoln: Riley 4; Tucker 2; Blackwell 1; Davisson 1; Elder 1. Totals 9; Buckhannon-Upshur: Maxwell 3; Abel 2; Currence 2; Henderson 2; Parke 2; Lanham 1; Smith 1. Totals 13.
Steals – Lincoln: Davisson 3; Riley 2. Totals 5; Buckhannon-Upshur: Maxwell 5; Currence 4; Abel 3; Parke 2; Henderson 1. Totals 15.
Blocked shots – Lincoln: Davisson 1; Riley 1. Totals 2; Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 3; Parke 2. Totals 5.
Fouls – Lincoln: 13; Buckhannon-Upshur: 18.
Turnovers – Lincoln: 20; Buckhannon-Upshur: 12.
