Most coaches will tell you that when it comes to your offense, expect there to be nights when it’s not where you want it to be. Those same coaches will tell that when it comes to defense and effort, it needs to be in the same place every night.

 

Such was the case Wednesday with Bridgeport’s girls’ basketball team. The Indians got more than enough out of their offense to take a 55-20 win against Robert C. Byrd in the semifinal round of the Class AA Region II, Section 1 tournament at the BHS gymnasium.

 

While nearly tripling the Eagles’ offense was critical, it was the Tribe’s defense that allowed that to happen. For four quarters, BHS simply wouldn’t allow its foe to get into any type of rhythm on offense and the numbers showed it.

 

“Defensively we were really good and that was good for us as far as what we wanted to establish. As for the effort, I’ll say it was decent because as a coach you’re never satisfied,” said Hutson. “Still, it’s hard to complain too much when you dominate the glass and hold a team to such a low shooting percentage.”

 

Hutson said BHS did make a defensive adjustment early. The Eagles were working a pick and roll successfully and after a first quarter change, the defense completely took over.

 

“We had to make that change on the fly … Emily Riggs and Kaitlin Smith were just excellent on defense, switching on picks and shutting their players down,” said Hutson. “The whole group was good and getting a win against a team, even though we beat them twice, to open up a tournament when you know there are some jitters is a good thing.”

 

By night’s end, Robert C. Byrd was just 7-of-50 from the field. Quick math shows that number to be a 14 percent shooting clip and a perfect defensive recipe for Bridgeport to advance. Add in a 44-26 spread off the glass in the home team’s favor it was clear the Tribe had control throughout.

 

The reward?

 

The Indians will now have a rubber match with state-ranked Lincoln. The Cougars were also busy turning up the defense Wednesday in their 81-19 sectional hammering over Elkins.

 

Bridgeport and Lincoln will face off this evening in Shinnston. Tip for the game will be at 7 p.m.

 

The Indians lost early in the year against the Cougars in Bridgeport by a 58-43 score. BHS returned the favor by a 64-60 score in overtime on Feb. 8.

 

One thing Hutson isn’t worried about is his team relaxing with the win in the last outing. He knows the team is aware of the challenge, the environment and potentially the reward that awaits them.

 

“I’d be really surprised if our kids didn’t play fired up. We know who we’re facing and what they bring and we know a win would allow us to host a regional final next week,” said Hutson. “To win, we’re going to have to do a lot of the same things we did last time.”

 

In the overtime win, the Indians did two things extremely well – they established Quinn Stalnaker inside and after turning the ball over a bevy of times against Lincoln’s pressure in the first half had just three turnovers in the final 16 minutes and overtime, Hutson said.

 

“There’s a good chance we’re not going to shut down Hope Bray and Gracey Lamm, but we can’t let anyone just go off against us and they have players that can do that,” said Hutson. “The other thing that’s big is to stay out of foul trouble. (Point guard) Gianina (Renzelli) was in foul trouble early last time and we were able to survive that. Her being on the floor will help our chances.”

 

Renzelli will start at the point with Smith at the two and Riggs at the three. Rory Marple will get the call inside at the four spot, while Stalnaker will handle the duties in the post. Stephanie Alvaro and Michaela Antill will be the top players of the bench, while Emilee Henderson could also see time.

 

Lincoln will counter with a talented starting five that includes Lamm at the point, Halie Hardman at the two spot and Bray at the third. Madison Jefferies is the four, while Jade DeBerry is the five. Hutson said the Cougars aren’t a post-dominated team, but can light anyone up with their shooters.

 

As mentioned above, BHS advanced to tonight’s game by leading throughout Wednesday against RCB. Bridgeport led 11-4 after one period of play and RCB was actually within four points early in the second period of play. After that, however, Bridgeport exploded. The Indians used an 18-5 run to take a 29-12 lead at the intermission and the game was essentially over as the Tribe already had enough offense to secure the win. By the time the start of the fourth period began, the Indians were comfortably in front by a 41-18.

 

After the win, Bridgeport is 15-8. The Cougars are 18-5.

 

The winner of tonight’s game will host the loser of the Region II, Section 2 title game that features Clay County at Lewis County. The loser of tonight’s game will visit the winner of the Section 2 contest. Those games are next Wednesday at 7 p.m.

 

Editor's Note: Photos by www.benqueenphotography.com.