By JONATHAN GREENE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — Following a big win, there can be a letdown for teams.
While there was no letdown for Princeton, which defeated No. 2 AA Summers County on Friday night, there was a slow down.
Ripley effectively used a four-corner stall offense for two and a half quarters before the Tigerettes turned up the pressure in the fourth to pull away for a 49-37 victory on Tuesday night.
“They had a pretty good game plan,” Princeton head coach Debbie Ball said. “I guess a lot of teams know we run. [Coach Frashier] has a pretty good team. He has the same bunch as last year.
“I suppose he wanted to slow our running attack down. He really delivered a pretty good offense for himself. We’re fortunate we got the lead and could start doing things our way.”
The Lady Vikings didn’t implement the stall offense until the last minute of the first quarter, but they were successful with it until the start of the fourth. It wasn’t unit then that Princeton started to press and turned a four-point game into a 12-point win.
“We came in knowing that Princeton is one of the best teams on our schedule,” Ripley head coach Justin Frashier said. “I don’t think people realize that, but I have cause I’ve played the best teams so far. They’re coached outstanding. ... We had a game plan and our girls executed, but it wasn’t enough at the end. Their players made shots and we didn’t.”
Ripley won the tip and Rachel Stuck’s lay-up gave them an early 2-0 lead. A Hannah Preservati fastbreak lay-up tied the game before McKenzie Akers knocked down two three pointers to give the Tigerettes the lead.
Princeton’s lead would remain at four points for the rest of the quarter as the teams traded baskets. After a Ripley timeout, the Lady Vikings decided to stall for the final minute. Their plan nearly worked before they were called for an offensive foul. The turnover gave the ball to Princeton which allowed Akers to get off a last-second three that rimmed out.
“We’ve been averaging 32 turnovers a game,” Frashier said. “We said were going to slow things down and try to stay in games. In the fourth quarter we’re down, we get a five-second call and they get a three which makes it seven points and it’s game over. This is where our program wants to be and that’s what we’re trying to work towards.”
The Vikings scored the first five points of the second quarter to take the lead. Stephanie Lambert’s jumper gave the lead back to the Tigerettes who would never trail again. Princeton was able to take a 20-16 lead into the half thanks to two Sydney Graham free throws.
“When you’re playing a lot of defense, I though well we’re getting a big practice tonight on playing defense,” Ball said. “I think our defense stepped up for us. As far as the girls frustrated, not really.
“I think they were ready coming into the second half knowing that they were still going to do that. They knew they had to execute a little more on defense.”
The Tigerettes started to pull away in the third quarter as their lead grew to eight, 30-22, with just over a minute left. Ripley was determined to keep it close though as Stuck hit a bank shot and Paige Smith threw in a hook shot just before the buzzer.
At the start of the fourth, Princeton caught the break it need when the Vikings could not inbound the ball. The Tigerettes responded with a Marissa Mullins’ three, making it 33-26. Princeton then went to a full court press which Ripley struggled to handle and went on a 10-0 run.
“I would like to press more, but when I’m seven or eight people deep, you don’t want to get your kids in foul trouble,” Ball said. “I was just hoping that we could stay out of foul trouble long enough to go into the press to change his tactics. We’re just fortunate that we could do that.”
Preservati closed out the run with two free throws giving the Tigerettes a 15-point lead. The Vikings never got closer than nine points down the stretch.
Akers had a game high 15 points. Mullins and Preservati each had nine.
Stuck led Ripley (3-10) with 14 points. Ryne Hill added 11.
Seventh-ranked Princeton (13-2) closes out the week at No. 4 AAA South Charleston on Thursday before visiting No. 1 Greenbrier East on Saturday.
“Playing on South Charleston’s floor is key,” Ball said. “We’ve played pretty well on the road this year so that’s not something they look at as being a disadvantage. I know that South Charleston has a good bunch of girls.
“We’re going to have to be on top of our game. Of course with East, I’ve actually watched them. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. These next two games will really tell us what we’re made of.”
— Contact Jonathan Greene
at jgreene@bdtonline.com

at Princeton Senior High School
RIPLEY (3-10)
Hill 11, Stuck 14, Hager 4, Smith 8.
PRINCETON (13-2)
Akers 15, Perkins 5, Mullins 9, Graham 7, Preservati 9, Lambert 4.
Ripley................8 8 10 11 — 37
Princeton........12 8 10 19 — 49
3 pt field goals: RIP, 1 (Hill); PRT, 3 (Akers 2, Mullins); Fouled out: RIP, Hill, Stuck; PRT, none.