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.
