By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
CHARLESTON — The first appearance in the state semifinals by a PikeView High School basketball team ended with a 57-30 defeat by a group of tournament veterans, the Scott Skyhawks, on Friday morning at the Charleston Civic Center.
Offense was missing for the Lady Panthers (18-10), who made only 20 percent of their field-goal attempts and sank six of 19 free throws while turning the ball over 16 times.
“Offensively, we didn’t have it today,” said PikeView head coach Karen Miller.
The Skyhawks (24-2) not only had the state’s player of the year, Makenzie White, but also had a rock-solid defensive team effort that regularly limited PikeView’s options.
That team effort boosted the Boone County squad into the Class AA finals for the third straight year. They were beaten the last two seasons by Summers County, which did not make the state tournament this year.
“We wanted to win,” said White, who has committed to play next for West Virginia University.
Danielle Compton, in her final game for PikeView, led the Panthers in points (8) and rebounds (10).
Scott converted 40 percent from the field and went 10-for-17 at the foul line. White hit three treys; the rest of the team was 0-for-13 from long distance.
Miller said, “Usually we thrive on our defense, and it carries the offense. But nothing was falling [on offense]. Sometimes you just have one of those days.”
PikeView was 0-for-12 in three-point tries.
Scott head coach John Porter said, “They’re a good team. We played better than they did today.”
White was nowhere near a triple-double, as she had recorded in Thursday’s quarterfinal thrashing of Oak Glen, but she canned nine field goals and four of five foul shots for 25 points, to go with four assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals.
Miller said, “We thought if we could contain Makenzie, we would have a chance.”
PikeView’s Jennifer Taylor said about White, “She had a really awesome game. We did everything we could to stop her, but the ball wasn’t falling for us.”
PikeView won the overall rebounding battle 47 to 42. Sophomore guard Hope Nester and freshman Lyndsay Hatfield had seven rebounds each for the Lady Panthers.
But Scott gathered in 35 missed PikeView shots, and 20 of those produced one-and-done possessions. PikeView got 17 offensive rebounds and 30 defensive boards.
Scott’s 6-foot-2 sophomore center Ali Whitman had 10 rebounds, four blocks and 11 points, and Andrea Rankin, a 6-foot freshman, added nine rebounds and eight points.
Miller said, “Offensive rebounds, I think that really hurt us.”
The Skyhawks had edged PikeView 55-54 in Madison on Feb. 4. Miller said, “We got down in that game, and we came back. We felt like we could do that again if we had to. But [the ball] just wouldn’t fall for us.”
Porter said in the earlier meeting the Skyhawks “were not as focused, not as intense. That was a regular-season game. [In the tournament] you’ve got to win or go home. We were going to play intense.”
Friday’s game opened with Scott winning the jump ball and promptly turning it over. Compton coolly sank a 16-foot jumper to give PikeView its only lead of the game, 2-0. White answered with a score-tying drive to the hoop, the first of her eight first-quarter points.
A three-pointer by White with 5:51 left before halftime produced Scott’s first double-digit lead, 25-13. That margin ballooned to as many as 33 points early in the fourth quarter.
Nester, who had only one foul in Wednesday’s quarterfinal win, was called for three charges in the initial 15 minutes of play. She finished the game with seven points.
Porter, the Scott coach, termed the energetic Nester “a great player.” He said, “She had 26 points against us in the first game. We tried a couple of people guarding her. Today it was Makenzie. Makenzie can play defense when she wants to. She shut her [Nester] down, and we won.”
White was asked about taking the charges in the semifinal game.
“I feel it,” she said, breaking into a slight smile. “I still feel it. But I’ll do what it takes. She’s a slasher, she takes it to the rim. She’s like me. But I knew if I stood there, I could get the call.”
Substitutes took the floor in the fourth quarter. There was only one field goal in the final 4:18 of the game, a putback by PikeView’s Courtney White.
White said that the Skyhawks were in top gear until the final whistle.
“That’s how we want to play,” she said. “That’s how we need to play.”
Today’s Class AA championship pits Scott against unbeaten Westside (27-0). The Warriors dismantled Clay County 75-52 in Friday’s other semifinal.
Porter said, “We’re the No. 2 seed. It’s No. 1 and No. 2. We’re supposed to be here tomorrow. We deserve it; we belong here.”
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com

At Charleston Civic Center
PIKEVIEW (18-10)
Hope Nester 2-13 3-4 7, Samantha Wood 1-6 1-5 3, Danielle Compton 4-10 0-0 8, Jennifer Taylor 1-8 1-2 3, Lauren White 0-2 0-4 0, Laura Hill 2-5 0-0 4, Bethany Bryant 0-2 0-2 0, Alexis May 0-1 0-0 0, Shyann Carr 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Sabin 0-1 0-0 0, Jamie Brown 0-1 0-0 0, Lyndsay Hatfield 1-9 1-2 3, Courtney White 1-1 0-0 2, Sabanah Runion 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-59 6-19 30.
SCOTT (24-2)
Makenzie White 9-18 4-5 25, Jaimee Dotson 1-7 2-4 4, Starla Aldridge 2-7 1-2 5, Ali Whitman 5-8 1-2 11, Julie Conway 1-6 0-2 2, Carolyn Green 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Adkins 0-1 0-0 0, Courtney Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0, Landyn McKinney 0-0 2-2 2, Jessy Blankenship 0-0 0-0 0, Andrea Rankin 4-6 0-0 8, Mikayla Roberts 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 10-17 57.
PikeView..........................11 5 4 10 — 30
Scott.................................20 14 17 6 — 57
Three-point goals — PV none, SHS 3 (White 3). Rebounds — PV 47 (Compton 10), SHS 42 (Whitman 10). Assists — PV 4 (Nester 2), SHS 11 (White 4). Total fouls — PV 18, SHS 14. Fouled out — PV, Taylor. Technical fouls — none. Att — NA.