By BOB REDD
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BRUSHFORK — Essence Brown’s put-back of a shot with 4.2 ticks left on the clock lifted the Bluefield Lady Beavers to a 59-57 win over the No. 4 ranked Summers County Lady Bobcats, Thursday night at the Brushfork Armory.
Summers County pushed the ball up the court with less than four seconds remaining, but the buzzer sounded before a shot that went through the goal was released.
“It was a big win,” said Bluefield head coach Tony Mallamaci, now in his 12th season at BHS. “That’s the first time since I’ve been coaching that we’ve beat them. It’s an honor to beat them because it’s not often that anybody beats them. I’m real proud of our kids.
“They showed a lot of character, took probably 10 years off my life. We played hard, played as a team. That was the difference tonight, we played as a team. I take my hat off to Summers County, especially Whittney Justice, she’s awesome.”
Brown got Bluefield off to a good start with an early basket. Dani Janutolo sank two free throws and Jia Coppola scored to give the home team a 6-0 lead. Whittney Justice’s three at the 5:30 mark of the opening quarter put Summers County on the board.
It was a foul fest as the Lady Bobcats began shooting the bonus with 2:25 to go in the first period and from the charity stripe the Summers County lasses clawed their way back into the game. Two free throws by Brittney Justice and then her put-back at the buzzer made it a one-point game, 15-14 in favor of Bluefield. Seven of Summers County’s 14 points in the quarter came from the free throw line.
The orange clad visitors tied the game at 20 early in the second on a Whittney Justice three and Brittney’s two free throws later knotted the game at 25. The Lady Bobcats took their first lead with 11 seconds to play before the half on Avery Pivont’s jumper. Bluefield drew even on Brown’s bucket with four seconds to go and the teams went to the intermission tied at 27.
Each team was whistled for 10 fouls in the opening half. Bluefield made 9-of-13 free throws while Summers County connected on 11-of-16 tosses.
The teams battled and exchanged the lead several times in the third and both squads had key players sit due to foul trouble, Coppola for Bluefield and Whittney Justice for Summers County.
Midway through the stanza Bluefield extended its lead to five on back-to-back baskets by Alyssa Lester to go up 40-35. The Lady Beavers led 40-37 going into the fourth period.
A three-point-play the old-fashioned way by Brittney Justice tied the game at 40, seconds into the fourth. Bluefield then slowed the pace and at the same time pulled away, opening a nine point lead with just over three minutes remaining in the game. Down five with 1:38 left Summers County’s defense forced a five second violation and Brittney Justice drilled a three to make it a two point game, 55-52. After a Bluefield timeout, the Lady Beavers turned the ball over on the inbound play and Whittney Justice’s trey knotted the game at 55 with 1:04 showing on the clock.
Bluefield retook the lead on Coppola’s basket underneath with 38 seconds left. After calling time, Summers County moved the ball down the court and with 16.5 showing Whittney Justice was fouled on her drive to the bucket. She sank both free throws to tie the game.
The Lady Beavers advanced the ball down the floor. A shot missed, Brown grabbed the rebound and put it through the hoop with 4.2 to go. Summers called time with 3.9 left. On the inbound play the ball went to midcourt, there were a few dribbles and a pass down low to an open player. However, the buzzer sounded before the shot left her hands and Bluefield claimed the win.
“We played as a team,” Mallamaci said. “We found the open man and rotated well on defense. We got into a little bit of foul trouble but we were able to substitute and not miss a beat. I think that’s the difference between this team and some of the other good ones we’ve had. We can go a little deeper and not loose too much.”
Bluefield improved to 10-2 and was led in scoring by Janutolo with 19 points. Brown added 16 and Lester came off the bench to drop in 11.
Summers County fell to 12-3. The Lady Bobcats were led by Whittney Justice with 27. Brittney Justice had 17.
Lady Bobcats’ head coach Wayne Ryan said, “I thought Bluefield was hungrier than we were. We were hard fought at the end, but we weren’t hard fought for the first three quarters. They out-played us, controlled the boards. They were a little more determined and give them credit. We’ll have to bounce back.”
Bluefield is back in action Saturday at the Armory, hosting No. 9 PikeView in a 2 p.m. contest. Summers County visits Westside, also on Saturday.

At Brushfork Armory
SUMMERS COUNTY (12-3)
Nayla Bond 0 0-0 0, Avery Pivont 1 1-2 3, Abby Taylor 0 2-4 2, Hannah Taylor 1 0-0 2, Tiffany Cline 1 1-2 3, Audrey Holley 1 0-0 3, Brittney Justice 7 3-3 17, Whittney Justice 5 14-16 27, Shelby Smith 0 0-0 0, Totals 16 21-27 57.
BLUEFIELD (10-2)
Emmaleigh Gallinger 1 0-0 3, Jia Coppola 3 3-6 9, Essence Brown 7 2-2 16, Jessica Hayden 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Lester 5 1-2 11, Abby Atwell 0 0-0 0, Dani Janutolo 5 8-11 19, Totals 21 14-21 59.
Summers County...........14 13 10 20 — 57
Bluefield.........................15 12 13 19 — 59
3-point goals: SC 4 (W. Justice 3, Holley); B 2 (Gallinger, Janutolo).
Fouled out: SC - A. Taylor. Technicals - Summers County bench.