In  the last 21 days, high school basketball action has been plentiful not only in North Central  West Virginia, but across the state. One of the exceptions would be the Bridgeport High School girls’ basketball team.

 

Prior to last night’s game with Grafton, the Indians had managed to play just one time – a Jan. 4 win by an 87-31 score against Liberty. Veteran Coach Dennis Hutson was concerned with how his team would respond when they finally got back to action.

 

So far, so good for the Indians even if it came against a winless GHS squad. The Tribe headed into Taylor County Wednesday and managed to jump out to a huge early lead before coasting to a 68-45 victory over the Bearcats.

 

“I thought we were really focused, particularly with our first half defense. We also shared the basketball and got the ball inside and were finishing in the paint. That’s encouraging because you’re not going to hit your perimeter shots every night,” said Hutson. “When you get good rebounding, defense and post play coaches tend to be happy.”

 

Bridgeport, now 6-3 on the year, actually led 43-11 at halftime in the contest. By that time, Hutson was already freely into the substitution mode. The Indians were up 23-3 after the initial period of play and never looked back

 

“We probably substituted a little earlier than we should,” said Hutson. “Perhaps the top seven should have played a few more minutes.”

 

Despite getting limited minutes, the Indians placed three players in double figures. Quinn Stalnaker led the way with 20 points, while Stephanie Alvaro added 13 and Emily Riggs finished with 10. Rory Marple just missed double digits with nine points.

 

The reason Hutson wanted those players, and the rest of his regular rotation, to get more minutes had nothing to do with adding to the point total. Rather, it was more to do with getting his team in game shape due to the inactivity.

 

“We have some pretty stiff competition and I’m a bit concerned about our game conditioning because I think the top seven have probably averaged around 15 minutes the last four games,” said Hutson. “You have to go back to Dec. 17 against Chapmanville (a 45-37 setback) to when the last time they played a full game of action. You can practice as hard as you want, but it’s not the same as actual game conditioning. Hopefully, we can weather that and our legs will be where they need to be for this upcoming stretch.”

 

Bridgeport is back in action Friday when it hosts a talented North Marion squad. Game time is set for 7:30 p.m.

 

The Indians have a Saturday game at 4:15 p.m. at Nicholas County. That’s followed by a Jan. 16 Monday game at East Fairmont High School against Wayne in the Martin Luther King Day Shootout at 12:30 p.m.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Quinn Stalnaker winning the opening tip, while Stephanie Alvaro drives in for a basket in the bottom picture. Photos by Matthew DeMaria of www.benqueenphotography.com.