Ramey
Huntington at Princeton
Huntington (65) Vs. Princeton (58)
By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — An ankle forced McKenzie Akers to the sidelines for Princeton. A hamstring pull recovered enough to allow Huntington’s Dominique Gibson to play for the first time in four games.
Advantage Gibson, and the Highlanders.
Gibson dominated the inside against the smaller Tigerettes, scoring 19 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, leading Huntington to a 65-58 Mountain State Athletic Conference third place victory over Princeton on Thursday night at Princeton Senior High School.
Princeton (14-6) played without Akers, who injured her left ankle on Feb. 7. The talented junior point guard scored 30 in a loss to Woodrow Wilson two nights later, but didn’t play to ensure her readiness for next Wednesday’s sectional opener, also against Woodrow Wilson.
“She did it in the Nicholas game, she played against Beckley and probably shouldn’t have,” Princeton head coach Debbie Ball said. “She is a tough kid, we have got her in therapy and she will be ready to go Wednesday.
“She probably could have played tonight, but even her physical therapist said no because he knows what type of kid she is and he didn’t want her to push it.”
Even without Akers, who scored 29 points an 84-65 loss earlier this season against Huntington, the Tigerettes led much of the way and trailed by just one, at 57-56, with 2:44 left on the clock before an 8-2 run allowed the Highlanders to pull away for the win.
Hannah Preservati took over the point guard role and collected 20 points, including four 3s, while Marissa Mullins led all scorers with 21 points. Stephanie Lambert and Rachel Surface added five apiece.
Princeton connected on seven 3s, while the Highlanders had four of their own.
“All week we have been preparing not to have McKenzie,” Ball said. “They actually stepped up tonight, they are capable of doing that.”
Gibson, who had missed four straight games with a hamstring injury, proved to be the difference, using her 6-foot-plus size to control the boards, while scoring eight straight points midway through the final period to help the Highlanders pull away from the Tigerettes.
“We have trouble with teams that have big players,” Ball said. “That is what we are learning now is how to play against big teams, but they have a lot of heart and they get after it and as long as they do that, even with big girls we can contend with them.”
Gibson led four Highlanders in double figures. Kiara Evans had 14, while Lakisha Adkins tallied 12 and Chelsea Woodson added 11. Huntington was 19-of-26 from the free throw line, compared to 9-13 for Princeton.
“That is the first time (Gibson) had been back in four games,” Huntington head coach Lonnie Lucas said. “I was just hoping we could get through the game win or lose and she would still be able to go and she made it and she is doing fine and that is great.
“I knew she would be out of condition. She hadn’t done anything in two weeks. We had played four games and she hadn’t practiced. This week she practiced two days and she was going about half-speed.”
That was enough for the Highlanders, which improved to 16-6 with its sectional opener on tap next Wednesday with Cabell Midland.
“Princeton likes to get up and down the floor and that makes it tough,” Lucas said. “It was a hard game for (Gibson) to come back in that particular game. Coming up here under these conditions I am still pleased with getting away with a victory.”
The first half featured eight lead changes and four ties, with Mullins scoring 14 points and Preservati added eight for a 29-29 tie at the break. Woodson and Evans had nine apiece, while Gibson had just four for Huntington at that point.
“Marissa has stepped up this year and even Stephanie Lambert and Rachel played pretty good,” Ball said.
Preservati continued to push the ball up the floor, looking for an outlet pass or taking the ball to the goal. Her pass to Cydney Graham — who made the basket and converted a free throw — gave Princeton its final lead at 37-35 with 3:58 to go in the third period.
“It is hard to replace Akers, but I thought switching the people around worked for them,” Lucas said. “(Preservati) played point guard and really helped them.”
Adkins tied at 37-37 with a short basket, and Gibson — who was 9-of-12 from the free throw line — put the Highlanders on top to stay with a pair of charity tosses with 3:08 on the clock.
Huntington, which outrebounded the Tigerettes by a significant margin, took a 47-43 lead into the final quarter as Preservati’s 3 — which cut the lead to 44-43 — was answered by a 3 from Adkins.
Princeton rallied from a five-point deficit to pull within two on three occasions, as 53-51 on a bank shot 3 by Lambert, 55-53 on a basket from Mullins and 57-56 on a 3 by Preservati.
Huntington then took control behind Gibson, as the Highlanders outscored the Tigerettes 8-2 to the final buzzer.
“I think what really got us was Huntington’s second and third attempts on the boards and we didn’t execute our offense like I wanted us to, but other than that, not having the leader out there makes a difference,” Ball said. “I am happy to have played like we did without McKenzie.”
Princeton, which lost 72-63 to Woodrow Wilson last week, will get another chance with the season on the line next Wednesday at Oak Hill High School. Waiting for the winner could be No. 1 Greenbrier East.
— Contact Brian Woodson
at bwoodson@bdtonline.com
at Princeton Senior High School
HUNTINGTON (16-6)
Chelsea Woodson 3 3-3 11, Lakisha Adkins 4 3-4 12, Abby Steele 2 1-3 5, Kiara Evans 5 3-4 14, Dominique Gibson 5 9-12 19, Lauren Sizemore 0 0-0 0, Lacy Johnson 1 0-0 2, Angel Hightower 1 0-0 2. Totals 21 19-26 65.
PRINCETON (14-6)
Kendria Perkins 2 0-0 4, Marissa Mullins 7 5-7 21, Cydney Graham 1 1-1 3, Hannah Preservati 7 2-3 20, Stephanie Lambert 2 0-0 5, Khadijia Payne 0 0-0 0, Rachel Surface 2 1-2 5. Totals 21 9-13 58.
Huntington........................13 16 18 18 — 65
Princeton............................15 14 14 15 — 58
3-point goals: HT 4 (Woodson 2, Adkins 1, Evans 1); PR 7 (Preservati 4, Mullins 1, Lambert 1). Total fouls: HT 13; PR 18. Fouled out: none. Technicals: none.
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Huntington 13 16 18 18 0 65
Princeton 15 14 14 15 0 58
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