FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Princeton girls basketball coach Matt Smith likes his team’s balance.
That pertains to much more than just scoring, though on Friday night at East Fairmont, the Tigers spread the wealth offensively and rebounded collectively, both of which went a long way toward the visitors rallying from a 14-point first-half deficit to claim a 53-48 win against the Bees.
In addition to winning the board battle by nine in the second half and by that same total for the game, Princeton made 13-of-16 foul shots over the final two quarters and 17 of 21 altogether.
“A three-and-a-half hour bus ride is no joke, and this is a quality win,” Smith said. “We talk all the time about rebounding the basketball. We have a little bit of size off the bench, but overall, we’re not big, so we have to rebound as a team. We focused a lot on free-throw shooting this week in practice, because I felt like we’ve lost a couple games because of it. For them to step up when it mattered and make free throws was huge. I’m very proud of them.”
The sizzling perimeter shooting of East Fairmont (8-5) guard Kailee Haymond was the story for much of the first half, although despite her scoring nine points on three three-pointers in the opening quarter, the Tigers (9-4) managed to lead, 13-9.
That advantage was gone 1:15 into the second quarter when Haymond made her second triple of the frame and fifth of the contest, allowing her team to lead by two.
Haymond made it 6 for 6 from long range later in the quarter to give her team a 20-13 lead, and her transition layup shortly after left PHS with a 24-13 deficit and made it 15 straight Bees’ points to start the second.
When Audrey Singer connected on a pull-up trey 3 minutes before halftime, EFHS was on top 29-15.
A key stretch followed in which PHS got consecutive baskets from both Addy McCabe and Chy Carruthers for an 8-0 half-ending spurt to pull to within six.
Haymond, who made her first seven shots, finally missed just before time expired in the opening half. Through two quarters, she had 20 of her team’s 29 points, while elevating her game as the Bees continue to battle with a short-handed roster that has several key players out due to injury, including Emma Moore and Kasey Rogers.
“It speaks volumes that these kids are competing the way they are as short-handed as we are,” Bees’ head coach James Beckman said.
The Tigers carried over the momentum to start the third quarter, with baskets from Tylar Burks and Natalie Rose cutting their deficit to two, before Kylee Jackson made two free throws to tie the game at 29 at the 5-minute mark of the period.
Burks’ three off the wing at the 4:15 mark enabled PHS to lead 32-29 for its first advantage since 13-11.
The Tigers led by as much as seven, but the Bees were to within 41-38 after three quarters following Haymond’s midrange jumper.
A trey from Hailey Hauser, along with Mackenzie Shupe’s layup, enabled the Bees to draw even at 43 with 6:25 remaining.
But more than 4 minutes passed until East Fairmont’s next basket, during which time the Tigers went on top for good via Chy Carruthers’ layup and a driving bucket from McCabe, who seconds earlier had intentionally inbounded the ball off an East Fairmont player for it to deflect back to her.
A pair of key fourth quarter baskets for Princeton in a 53-48 win at East Fairmont.
Chy Carruthers scored to break a 43-all tie and Addy McCabe accounted for the next bucket with 4 minutes left after a heady inbound pass to herself. #wvgirlsbb pic.twitter.com/eoqy7MFaF5
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) January 24, 2026
Shupe scored again to bring EFHS to within two, but Natalie Rose made two free throws with 1:37 remaining and another two with 26 seconds left to help Princeton preserve the victory.
“When Kailee has a hot hand, as she did in the first half, they’re going to make adjustments,” Beckman said. “They made the adjustments and we talked at halftime about how we had to be able to handle pressure, stay focused and get into the things we want to get into, and we had a difficult time doing that tonight. We lost our composure and there is some youth and inexperienced kids out there, but we have to continue to get better.”
Burks and Jackson paced Princeton with 10 points apiece. Carruthers and Abbey Honaker followed with eight each, though it was another aspect of Honaker’s game that earned plenty of praise from Smith as she was instrumental in slowing down Haymond after halftime.
“She gave everything she had on the defensive end and that was the game-changer,” Smith said.
Rose and McCabe scored six each, giving PHS six players with at least six points.
“We mix it up. We spread the ball, we move the ball and stay balanced,” Smith said.
Both teams had 14 first-half rebounds, but Princeton finished with 32 to the Bees’ 23.
Haymond led all players with 22 points, while Shupe, Hauser and Singer scored seven apiece in defeat.
“Disappointing offensively in the second half for us,” Beckman said, “because we’ve spent a lot of time on it.”