TENNERTON – No. 3 Wheeling Park missed their first nine shots of the game, and it seemed like after that they didn’t miss at all as they downed the No. 6 Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Bucs in the Region 1 championship battle by a 79-36 score Wednesday night the high school.

The Patriots hit 13 three-pointers and shot just under 50 percent for the game as they will advance to the state tournament that will begin next Thursday in Charleston for Class AAAA teams.

“Defensively, we simply weren’t doing a good job of communicating with each other,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Rob Kittle. “We were getting caught up on screens that opened up their offense. Wheeling Park is a great team and we knew we would have to play an almost perfect game and we weren’t able to do that tonight. It was just Wheeling Park’s night. We simply didn’t make enough plays when we needed to.”

The 36 points was a season-low for the Lady Bucs as senior Shelby McDaniels had a team-high 24 while the rest of the squad managed just 12 points.

“Shelby had a special game for us tonight and has had a special career for us,” said Kittle. “There isn’t enough words to describe what she has meant to this program. She put her heart and soul into this program and there will be no way we can replace her.”

McDaniels gave the Lady Bucs an early 6-0 lead with a pair of three pointers as Wheeling Park didn’t get on the scoreboard until 3:35 showing on the first-quarter clock when Lala Woods hit a jumper.

Alexis Bordas scored on an outside jumper for Wheeling Park but Kendal Currence scored from underneath for the Lady Bucs giving them an 8-4 lead with 3:15 remaining in the opening quarter.

It went south for the Lady Bucs after that as Wheeling Park scored the final 11 points of the stanza taking a 15-8 advantage after eight minutes of action.

Bordas nailed a three-pointer to start the second quarter before Kyndal Davis ended their 14-0 run with a basket underneath.

A 5-0 mini run by the Patriots made it a 23-10 contest before McDaniels unleashed a trey making it a 23-13 contest with 90 seconds gone in the second quarter.

B-U was down 34-18 when McDaniels put in two straight baskets trimming the deficit down to 12, but Natalie Daugherty wrapped up the first-half scoring with three leaving the Lady Bucs down 37-22 at the intermission.

Wheeling Park started the third quarter with a 7-0 run before Alyssa Abel made a lay-up for the Lady Bucs making the score 44-24.

The Patriots followed that up with a 13-0 run for a 57-24 advantage.

Davis put in a basket in the paint to wrap up the third quarter for B-U, as the Lady Bucs entered the fourth quarter down 30, at 59-29.

Wheeling Park went on a 13-2 run to start the final quarter taking a 72-31 lead.

The Patriots built their biggest lead to 44 points, at 77-33, before winning the game by 43, at 79-36.

Wheeling Park was led by Bordas with a game-high 26 points as they improved to 18-6 on the year.

They will enter the state tournament as the third seed and will play Jefferson Thursday at 9:30 a.m.

Despite the disappointing loss, the Lady Bucs wrapped up a successful season that saw them post a 19-6 record and finish sixth in the final regular-season AP rankings.

“I am extremely proud of the this team,” concluded Kittle. “Going 19-6 is a tremendous year. I think it is the third most wins in a single season. I can’t say enough about the effort and heart these girls showed this year. They were an amazing group to coach and I can’t even begin to state how much our three seniors (Shelby McDaniels, Olivia Ellis, and Kiara Woods), will be missed.”