Lady Bucs lead from start-to-finish in season opening win at Preston

KINGWOOD – The Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Bucs led from start to finish in their season-opener with the Preston Knights in a road contest Tuesday evening, winning a 59-46 decision.

“It’s always good to start the season off with a win,” stated Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Rob Kittle. “Especially getting a win over a conference and regional opponent.”

Shelby McDaniels led the Lady Bucs with a double-double with 16 points and 10 assists.

Kendal Currence added 15 points and Alyssa Abel added 13.

“We got Kendal in some ISO plays underneath and she shot the ball well and did a good job scoring for us,” remarked Kittle. “And Alyssa did a good job of coming off the bench to score 13 points. She gave us a huge boost.”

The Lady Bucs raced out to an 8-0 lead and held Preston without a basket until the 4:41 mark of the opening quarter.

A basket by McDaniels put B-U up by a 12-3 lead at the 3:09 mark and the Lady Bucs owned a 14-7 advantage at the end of the first quarter.

A jumper by Abel gave the Lady Bucs their biggest lead of the first half, at 24-12, with 3:38 remaining.

The Lady Bucs settled into a 30-21 lead at the break.

Preston got within four, at 34-30, with 4:24 remaining in the third quarter, but Abel and Currence put in consecutive baskets to put the B-U lead back to eight, at 38-30.

A basket by Kenna Maxwell put the Lady Bucs up by nine at the end of the third quarter, at 44-35.

Preston could never get closer than 11 points in the final quarter as the Lady Bucs pulled away for the 13-point win.

Breanna Sphar led Preston with 13 points while Carsynn Sines added 12.

The Buckhannon-Upshur defense held Preston to a 34 percent shooting night as they hit on just 17 of their 50 shots attempts.

“I thought we did a good job on defense,” noted Kittle. “I thought we gave up too many second-chance points, but overall, we did well on defense.”

The Lady Bucs were 19-for-47 from the field for 40 percent.

“We didn’t shoot the ball extremely well,” noted Kittle. “We made it easier for Preston to stay in the game.”

The Lady Bucs (1-0) will host Lewis County on Thursday. The game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m.

The boxscore:

Buckhannon-Upshur 14  16  14  15 – 59

Preston 7  14  14  11 – 46

Buckhannon-Upshur 59

Shelby McDaniels 4-17 8-10 16; Kendal Currence 7-10 0-0 15; Alyssa Abel 3-5 7-8 13; Kenna Maxwell 2-8 3-5 8; Gabby Parke 3-6 1-2 7; Kyndal Davis 0-0 0-0 0; Olivia Ellis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-47 19-25 59.

Preston 46

Breanna Sphar 4-12 2-2 13; Carsynn Sines 6-12 0-1 12; Leah Elliott 3-11 2-2 10; Ella White 2-2 0-0 5; Natalie Annon 1-2 2-2 4; Kinley Manko 1-1 0-0 2; Izabela Stahl 0-5 0-0 0; Hannah Cramer 0-3 0-0 0; Alauna Wilson 0-1 0-0 0; Kendall Stiles 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-50 6-7 46.

Three-point field goals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Currence 1-2; Maxwell 1-4; Ellis 0-1; McDaniels 0-9. Totals 2-16; Preston: Sphar 3-8; Elliott 2-5; White 1-1; Annon 0-1; Sines 0-1; Cramer 0-2. Totals 6-18.

Rebounds – Buckhannon-Upshur: McDaniels 8; Currence 7; Abel 7; Maxwell 2; Parke 2; Ellis 2; Davis 1. Totals 29; Preston: Sines 7; Stahl 4; Sphar 2; Cramer 2; Annon 2; Manko 1; Elliott 1; White 1; Stiles 1. Totals 21.

Assists – Buckhannon-Upshur: McDaniels 10; Maxwell 2; Parke 1; Ellis 1. Totals 14; Preston: Sphar 6; Stahl 3; Sines 2; Manko 1. Totals 12.

Steals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 2; Currence 2; McDaniels 1; Maxwell 1; Parke 1; Davis 1. Totals 8; Preston: Sphar 3; Stahl 1; Elliott 1; White 1; Sines 1. Totals 7.

Blocked shots – Buckhannon-Upshur: Parke 1; Abel 1. Totals 2; Preston: Sphar 1. Totals 1.

Turnovers – Buckhannon-Upshur: 13; Preston: 20.

Fouls – Buckhannon-Upshur: 12; Preston: 21.

Featured

SHOPS & SERVICES

Buckhannon man held on $100,000 bail after being arrested on multiple drug charges

BUCKHANNON – A Buckhannon man was arrested Saturday after several illegal substances were allegedly found in his residence. Bryan Shaw, 41, of Buckhannon, was arrested for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver heroin, possession with […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Buckhannon City Council approves $6.5 million-dollar budget prioritizing public safety, infrastructure

BUCKHANNON – City council passed the largest budget in Buckhannon’s history Tuesday, with the two largest allocations once again earmarked for public safety operations and infrastructure maintenance, respectively. At its March 14 meeting – rescheduled from March 16 due to […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Police arrest man they say was the driver in 2022 pursuit that ended in a wreck with two people ejected

BUCKHANNON – A Rock Cave man was arrested for allegedly fleeing from police officers in a vehicle, injuring himself and a passenger. Elijah Carpenter, 27, of Rock Cave was arrested Thursday for fleeing from an officer and fleeing or attempting […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

SHOPS & SERVICES

Softball Lady Bucs get one-hit by Lincoln’s Haller in season debut

TENNERTON – For their season opener, the Buckhannon-Upshur softball Lady Bucs ran into one of the top pitchers in the state in Lincoln’s Delaney Haller. Haller was the Big 10 Conference Pitcher of the Year last season and was captain […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Baseball ‘Cats get home doubleheader split with ABU

BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan baseball team split with the Alderson Broaddus Battlers Monday, winning 7-2 in the first game and losing 7-0 in the second game. The bats were alive in Game

Inexperienced tennis Bucs fall in first two outings of 2023 season

BRIDGEPORT – The Buckhannon-Upshur tennis Buccaneers dropped their first two outings of the year last week. They opened their season at home last Thursday with a 7-0 setback to Robert C. Byrd and then went to Bridgeport Saturday and dropped […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

Lady Buc netters open season with win over Robert C. Byrd and narrow loss to John Marshall

BRIDGEPORT – The Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Buc tennis team is off to a 1-1 start to the season and was just an eyelash away from being a perfect 2-0. The Lady Bucs hosted Robert C. Byrd last Thursday and won a […]

Become a premium member to unlock immediate access to this story and thousands more. Plus you’ll wake up every morning to our email edition. Your subscription supports local news by local writers. Signing up is easy — just tap the button below!

SHOPS & SERVICES

Working in service: WVU research reaches all of West Virginia

Breakthroughs and research expertise nurtured at West Virginia University extend far beyond its labs, experimental sites and classrooms. In fact, WVU research efforts are unique compared to most universities, according to Vice President for Research Fred King. “While

Fairmont State University selects 2023 Presidential Scholarship winners

Three incoming Fairmont State University freshmen have been selected as the recipients of Fairmont State’s premier academic scholarship, the Charles J. McClain Presidential Scholarship. Sophie Stuart from Jefferson High School (Charles town, W.VA), Hailey Jordan