ST. MARYS, W.Va. — St. Marys took control of their Class A Region I co-final early and never looked back in a 72-31 win over five-time defending regional champion Cameron. The Blue Devils return to the state tournament after advancing to the Class AA semifinals a year ago.
“I was sick the last two days worrying about this. You never know what is going to happen in the tournament. I like this team. We’ve got no seniors. We’ve got three juniors and two that start,” said St. Marys head coach Fred King.
“I like our chances down there as far as playing well. But I can’t say what is going to happen. At the state tournament, things happen. I feel like we’re got a nice ball club. I think we will represent our school. I think we will represent ourselves, our families and our community very well down there.”
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 21-2 lead midway through the first quarter and they led 24-6 after the opening eight minutes. St. Marys built a 41-15 halftime advantage. They did not allow the Dragons to score in double figures in any quarter.
“We played pretty good man-to-man. We doubled down. We try to force teams to their weak side, which we did a pretty good job of tonight. We created a lot of turnovers and deflections which ended up as easy baskets. When you get easy baskets, the 12-to-15 footers fall better.”
Brynnley Bulluck led the Blue Devils with 26 points. The 5-10 forward stepped outside and connected on a pair of three-pointers.
“It makes driving lanes a lot simpler. The driving lanes open her up for three. They had to back off because she penetrated a couple times. Then when she steps back, the way we do that is we find an open person in that weave and they are wide open because you have to double down.
Anna Bennett scored 20 points for the Blue Devils (20-4) while Laney Watkins added 17.
“We’ve got four girls out there that can score in double figures.”
St. Marys has earned the No. 3 seed in the Class A state tournament. The Blue Devils will face No. 6 Pocahontas County (16-2) in the tournament lid lifter on March 10 at 9:30 a.m.
Cameron (15-8) was led by Kendra Thomas’ seven-point game.