GRAFTON – The No. 7 Buckhannon-Upshur Lady Bucs found little resistance from the two-win Grafton Bearcats in their outing Thursday night.
The Lady Bucs led from wire to wire in an easy 81-44 victory.
Buckhannon-Upshur raced out to a 15-0 lead and never looked back in their 37-point victory.
With five games in the last eight days for his Lady Bucs, this was just the type of contest Buckhannon-Upshur head coach Rob Kittle was hoping for as he was able to rest his starting five the entire fourth-quarter.
“We were simply looking to take care of business and escape without getting anyone injured,” stated Kittle. “I know Grafton is struggling this season, but I am happy with how we performed. We took care of what we needed to take care of. I think it was huge to be able to get our starters some rest. We have played five games in eight days. I know I am tired and I am not even on the floor, so I know the team has to be tired.”
The 81 points marked a season-high for the Lady Bucs as they were red-hot from the floor, shooting 59.2 percent from the game.
The Lady Bucs put five players in double figures with Kendal Currence leading the way with 16 while Kenna Maxwell added 14, Alyssa Abel and Olivia Ellis 13 each and Shelby McDaniels 10.
Currence was near perfect from the floor going six-for-seven including hitting both of her three-point attempts.
“I was just shooting when I was open and having confidence in my shot, “ Currence said of her shooting night on the floor. “I was just feeling it tonight. We had good teamwork and did a great job of passing the ball around and finding the open shooter. Coach Kittle preaches to us to make the good pass and take the good shot.”
With the Lady Bucs leading 15-0, Grafton finally scored with three minutes left in the opening quarter when Amber Smith drained a three-pointer.
McDaniels and Currence countered with three-pointers of their own, and Maxwell went inside for a lay-up to treat B-U to a 23-3 lead.
Grafton’s Alyssa Satterfield had a putback to wrap up the first-quarter scoring, leaving B-U up 23-5.
Currence scored the first five points of the second quarter as the Lady Bucs owned a 28-5 advantage. Up 36-13, the Lady Bucs closed the quarter on a 12-0 run for a 48-13 lead at the intermission. A pair of free throws by Abel upped the B-U lead to 47, their largest of the game at 65-18, with 4:02 remaining in the third quarter.
Grafton ended the quarter on an 8-4 run as the Lady Bucs took a 69-26 lead into the fourth stanza.
Ellis started the final quarter with a three-pointer, and after a 6-0 run by Grafton, Regina Petrokovich scored from underneath and Ellis canned another trey to put the Lady Bucs up by 45, at 77-32 with 3:31 left in the game.
Grafton ended the contest on a 12-4 run.
Jodi Keene had a double-double for Grafton with 19 points and 10 rebounds as the Bearcats dropped to 2-17 on the year.
B-U, now 17-4, will wrap up their regular season on Monday hosting No. 2 Morgantown. The game will begin at 7:30 p.m.
“We will go light on Friday and then get into the gym on Saturday and get ready for Morgantown,” concluded Kittle. “It’s a big game and we want to make a good showing, but our true focus is on the upcoming sectional tournament. With both teams ranked in the top seven and Morgantown at No. 2, I think there is something there for us to prove and build a little confidence going into sectionals.”
The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 23 25 21 12 – 81
Grafton 5 8 13 15 – 44
Buckhannon-Upshur 81
Kendal Currence 6-7 2-2 16; Kenna Maxwell 6-10 2-3 14; Alyssa Abel 5-7 3-3 13; Olivia Ellis 5-5 0-0 13; Shelby McDaniels 4-10 0-0 10; Gabby Parke 2-9 2-4 7; Rosie Shackleford 2-3 0-0 4; Kyndal Davis 1-1 0-0 2; Regina Petrokovich 1-1 0-0 2; Brooklyn Smith 0-1 0-0 0; Casadie Lahman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-54 9-12 81.
Grafton 44
Jodi Keene 7-15 6-9 19; Kambree Delaney 2-11 2-2 8; Amber Smith 2-6 0-0 5; Kelsey Massie 1-1 1-1 3; Nevaeh Johnson 1-5 0-0 2; Sydney Friend 1-6 0-0 2; Alyssa Sattefield 1-5 0-0 2; Izzy Swiger 1-3 0-0 2; Emma Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Macy Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-54 9-12 44.
Three-point field goals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Ellis 3-3; Currence 2-2; McDaniels 2-7; Parke 1-7; Maxwell 0-3; Smith 0-1. Totals 8-23; Grafton: Delaney 2-4; Smith 1-3; Satterfield 0-1; Johnson 0-2; Friend 0-5;Totals 3-15.
Rebounds – Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 7; Currence 6; team 5; McDaniels 4; Davis 3; Maxwell 3; Lahman 2; Parke 1; Petrokovich 1; Smith 1; deadball 1. Totals 34; Grafton: Keene 10; team 8; Smith 5; Friend 3; Satterfield 3; Johnson 2; Delaney 1. Totals 32.
Assists – Buckhannon-Upshur: McDaniels 9; Maxwell 4; Lahman 4; Abel 2. Totals 19; Grafton: Satterfield 3; Friend 2; Swiger 2; Smith 2. Totals 9.
Steals – Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 3; Maxwell 3; Parke 3; McDaniels 2; Currence 1; Ellis 1. Totals 13; Grafton: Keene 4; Satterfield 3; Swiger 2; Smith 2; Delaney 1; Johnson 1. Totals 13.
Blocked shots – Buckhannon-Upshur: Abel 1. Totals 1; Grafton: None.
Turnovers – Buckhannon-Upshur: 17; Grafton: 22.
Personal fouls – Buckhannon-Upshur: 10; Grafton: 10.