When Bridgeport heads to Charleston Wednesday to compete in the Class AA state basketball tournament, it will be going up against a Frankfort squad that features on the top point guards in the state. And that point guard proved it in the Falcons state tournament clinching win against Fairmont Senior.

 

Abby Beeman comes into the game as Frankfort’s court leader at the point. She also comes into the contest after dropping 32 points on the Polar Bears in the 63-51 win that earned her squad the No. 5 seed in the tournament.

 

Beeman and her squad will face off against the No. 4 Indians at the Charleston Civic Center Wednesday evening at 9 p.m. Both teams come into the contest with 18-7 records.

 

“Abby Beeman is just tremendous at the point,” said Coach Dennis Hutson. “She’s look to score first and pass second in running the show and she’s shown she can score.

 

“She can get to the rim and shoots the ball from a lot of different angles allowing her to score in some really impressive and uncanny ways against bigger players,” Hutson continued. “She makes them go and if she goes off for 30 against us then we’re going to be in trouble.”

 

While Hutson said she leads the way, he said there are plenty of other weapons Frankfort has in what he said is primarily a six-person rotation. Ashley Phillips, a 5’7 sophomore forward, and 6’9 senior forward Claire Howell are also solid.

 

Sophomore guards Makenna Douthitt and Macie Miller, both at 5’7, round out the starting five. While Hutson said the group is solid on both ends of the floor, he said what should out are their fundamentals.

 

“That’s one thing that stands out. I wanted them against North Marion and for 32 minutes they played a man and were good at it. Then they play Southern (MD) and go man, 2-3 and 1-2-2. About the only they don’t do a lot of is pressure, which I imagine is due to a limited rotation,” Hutson said. “The big thing is even though they’re not real big is that they turn and box out. It was pretty impress how it jumped out on tape because we complain about that issue with our kids all the time and they do it every time.”

 

With the depth, Hutson would like the contest to be more up tempo. He believes that would play to their favor.

“We’d like for it to be a transitional type of game because I think we have the depth and may be a little quicker and a little more athletic,” said Hutson. “We don’t want a half court game because that works to their advantage and we don’t have true post up players. We also want to set the tone defensively.”

 

The big assignment will go to junior Emily Riggs. Riggs, like Beeman, is coming off a huge outing in the game that put the Tribe into the state tournament. She scored 37 points in the 67-45 win against Roane County to get to Charleston.

 

“Emily could have the opportunity do post good numbers again because teams have a hard time against her when she gets to the basket. We need her to be aggressive and stay out of foul trouble on both ends,” said Hutson. “The disadvantage is she’ll be guarding Beeman because she’s our best on-ball defender. We’ll switch her off some to give her a rest here and there, but she’ll be the one to try and slow her down.”

 

Riggs will be joined in the starting lineup by Rory Marple and senior Kaitlin Smith. Bria Jacobs and, most likely, Sarah Haynes will round out the starting five. Hutson said Paige Humble, who like Haynes is a freshman, is more comfortable coming off the bench.

 

“Kaitlin, Rory and Emily have been big through the tournament so far and I hope to see that continue,” said Hutson. “This could be a high scoring game.”

 

The game can be heard Wednesday night on 103.3 WAJR FM.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Emily Riggs driving, while Kaitlin Smith does the same in the second photo. Bottom photo shows Rory Marple pulling up for a basket. Photos from the Indians game with Roane County by Joey Signorelli of www.benqueenphotography.com.