Tucker girls prep for 18th straight trip to states
Lady Mountain Lions meet Tug Valley Tuesday in Class A quarterfinals
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The Inter-Mountain photo by Joey Kittle
Junior forward Kadie Colebank tops Tucker County in scoring (19 ppg.) and rebounding (16 per game). The Lady Mountain Lions face Tug Valley Tuesday morning in Class A state quarterfinal action in Charleston.
HAMBLETON -- When the Tucker County girls take to the floor of the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center on Tuesday morning, it will be the 18th straight state tournament appearance for the Lady Mountain Lions.
Sixth-seed Tucker County (18-6) secured a berth in the Class A field with a win over Tygarts Valley in Region II co-final play and will face No. 3 and defending state champion Tug Valley (17-5) at 9:30 a.m. in the quarterfinals.
The youthful Lady Mountain Lions of coach Dave Helmick only have one senior and two juniors on the roster, as plenty of sophomores are key contributors.
Kadie Colebank, a 6-foot-1 junior, leads the team in scoring with 19 points per game and rebounding at 16 per contest. The all-stater surpassed 1,000 points for her career earlier this season.
Senior guard Jayden Kuhn contributes 12.7 points per game, while sophomore guard Macy Helmick is the other double-digit scorer, hitting for 10 points per outing and adding three assists and three steals per game.
Sophomore guard Brylee Wetzel, sophomore guard Avery Colebank and junior forward Jacey Davis are also looked upon for scoring.
The Lady Panthers counter with high-scoring senior guard Kaylea Baisden, who averages 23.2 points and became the school's all-time leading scorer for girls basketball this season. She was the captain of the all-state first team last season.
Senior forward Autumn Hall chips in 11.2 points per game and freshman guard MacKenzie Browning and senior guard Audrey Evans 9.0 points per outing.
Tuesday's winner faces either No. 7 River View (16-8) or No. 2 Cameron (21-4) in the semifinals at 11:15 a.m. on Thursday.
The remainder of Tuesday's Class A quarterfinal games include No. 8 Union (16-5) vs. No. 1 Gilmer County (22-2) and No. 5 Webster County (19-5) vs. No. 4 Doddridge County (18-7).
The Class A title game is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday.