Defense fuels St. Marys past Lady Warriors
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CHARLESTON -- Third-seed St. Marys road a fast start and a furious defensive effort in cruising past No. 6 Pocahontas County, 65-28, Tuesday in Class A quarterfinal action inside the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.
The Lady Blue Devils (21-4) advance to face second-seed Tug Valley at 11:15 a.m. Thursday in the semifinals.
Tug Valley defeated No. 7 Greater Beckley Christian, 60-13, Tuesday in quarterfinal action to move on.
Top-seed Gilmer County, a 67-19 winner over No. 8 Webster County on Tuesday, faces the victor of Tuesday's late game between No. 4 Tucker County vs. No. 5 Ritchie County in the other semifinal at 7:15 p.m. Thursday.
"We ran into a buzzsaw," said Lady Warriors coach Tim McClung, whose team trailed 23-4 after one quarter and 44-8 at halftime. "(St. Marys) got us out of our offense, are quick and play extremely good defense."
Laney Watkins, who had 15 of the Lady Blue Devils' 23 first-quarter points, finished with 29 in the win.
Brynnley Bulluck chipped in 22 points, Anna Bennett grabbed 15 rebounds and Landrey Riggs collected five steals.
Allyson Taylor had 11 points and 11 caroms for Pocahontas County, which finished the season 16-3.
Pocahontas County (16-3)
Savana Sharp 1 2-2 4, Alexis Arbogast 2 1-4 5, Allyson Taylor 5 1-2 11, Shayla Bennett 1 0-0 2, Rylynn Barlow 1 0-0 2, Julia Brown 2 0-0 4, Calli Propst 0 0-0 0, Mazie Monico 0 0-0 0, ReeAnna Alderman 0 0-0 0, Jolene Workman 0 0-0 0, Haiven Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 4-8 28
St. Marys (21-4)
Landrey Riggs 1 0-0 3, Anna Bennett 2 1-2 5. Rylee Renner 1 0-0 2, Laney Watkins 12 3-5 29, Brynnley Bulluck 10 1-3 22, Laura Pritchett 2 0-0 4, Elizabeth Gray 0 0-0 0, Brooklyn Davis 0 0-0 0, Lana Gilfillan 0 0-0 0, Kinley Thomas 0 0-0 0, Jamie Grose 0 0-0 0, Laney DeWeese 0 0-0 0. Totals 28 5-10 65
Pocahontas County 4 4 8 12 -- 28
St. Marys 23 21 10 11 -- 65
3-point goals: SM 4 (Watkins 2, Riggs and Bulluck)