Huntington blitzes Buckhannon-Upshur for spot in semifinals

9 Mar 2016 by Bryan Courts

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Class AAA No. 2 Huntington forced 36 turnovers and pulled away from No. 7 Buckhannon-Upshur for an 80-59 win in Wednesday’s girls state quarterfinals.

Huntington (24-1) outscored Buckhannon-Upshur (16-9) in points off of turnovers 38-21.

“That’s what we like to do, we like to run,” said Huntington coach Lonnie Lucas. “That’s our game. If we can run, we can score.”

Huntington’s Jordyn Dawson poured in 33 points on 16-of-22 shooting, grabbed eight rebounds and collected eight steals.

“Jordyn plays all out and that’s the way it is,” Lucas said. “She doesn’t like to talk about (herself), but we all like to talk about her. Girls feed off of her if she’s getting her hands on the ball.

“She shot the ball more than she normally shoots, but to make that kind of percentage, that’s what she normally does. She’s over a 50-percent shooter all of the time because of the way she shoots the basketball.”

Dazha Congleton added 16 points for Huntington, while Lexi Sheffield scored 12 points. Senior Ericka Budd added eight points and three steals as the Highlanders are looking to get over the hump in recent state tournament appearances to bring home a title.

“We just want to get the ring as our end result,” Budd said. “I’ve come here three out of my four years (to the state tournament), and this is my third and final chance to get it.”

The Highlanders led 24-12 after the first quarter, but Buckhannon-Upshur chipped away to pull within 30-24 at the half.

A 17-0 run in the third quarter put the Highlanders comfortably back in control 59-31.

“They’re an athletic team and they executed their pressure really well,” said Buckhannon-Upshur’s Hanna McClung. “We went through a period of time where we didn’t necessarily handle their pressure nearly as well, which hurt us.”

Huntington moved on to face the winner of South Charleston and George Washington in Friday’s semifinals.