East Fairmont girls come up big in Beckman's 100th win | High School Sports | timeswv.com
By Nick Henthorn
Times West Virginian
FAIRMONT — While hitting the 100 win benchmark is exciting enough, East Fairmont head coach James Beckman's 100th career win did not lack in excitement on the court either.
Holding off a late comeback, the Bees pulled out a 58-55 win over the Sissonville Indians on Saturday after a go-ahead bucket from Kenly Rogers and a game-sealing block by Brooklyn Shupe.
After the final buzzer, Beckman received a plaque and game ball at center court, and was congratulated by family, players and fellow coaches.
"I wouldn't be at this 100th win without the current girls that I have on the roster, the alumni that helped me get here, and this coaching staff," Beckman said. "It's been a collective group. Happy to have this accomplishment but there's still more wins to be had."
Beckman hit the milestone in his 10th year coaching East Fairmont.
"In this program, two years ago, this junior and senior class only had seven games because of COVID ... It's been fun to get this program to where it's been."
After leading 26-19 at halftime and 43-47 after three quarters, Sissonville worked back into the game and tied the score at 48 with 3:49 to play. It was the first tie since a 9-9 score in the first quarter.
Madison McCutheon, Haley Jarrett and Kynadee Britton helped the Sissonville cause in the fourth quarter, with Britton entering the quarter with 25 points, and finishing the game with 32.
Britton converted an and-one fast break layup to tie the game at 48, but Rogers matched the effort with an and-one lay-in of her own the next possession to put East back out in front.
A pair of free throws by Britton and jumper by Jarrett vaulted Sissonville ahead 52-51 with 2:20 to play. It was Sissonville's first lead since holding a 4-2 advantage in the game's opening minutes.
East's Shupe came up with a big steal on defense, and Rogers came through with another big shot on offense to give her team the lead back in what was becoming a see-saw affair.
Britton earned another trip to the line on offense for Sissonville, making both and pulling the see-saw back to the Indians, 54-53 with a minute to play.
Once again it was Rogers who answered for the Bees. The junior scored nine points in the fourth quarter to end the game with 22 points.
East, once ahead, held the slimmest of leads, but a foul in the back court sent Britton to the line once again.
Britton shot 16-26 from the stripe on Saturday, including 5-9 in the fourth quarter.
Britton split her free throws to tie the game at 55.
With possession of the ball and under a minute to play. East bled some clock, with the ball always finding its way back to Rogers. After moving the ball around the perimeter for the last time, the ball was expectedly in Rogers hands. With a dash down the left wing and a spin inside, Rogers scooped up a shot that banked off the backboard and into the basket.
East led 57-55 with a mere 10 seconds to go.
"What a player," Beckman said. "Kept the composure, got to the rim, knew we needed a bucket."
Coming out of a timeout, Sissonville got the ball inbounds, beating East's pressure with passes up the court, into the hands of Britton. Driving full-speed down the lane, Britton's shot was blocked by Shupe, and after the ball found McKenzie Moyer, Sissonville fouled in vain with 0.1 seconds left. Moyer made the first and missed the second to bring the game to a close.
"Athletic, lengthy, physical," Beckman said of Shupe. "You knew who the ball was going to, you knew who was going to take the last shot. She did a great job and we did a great job of doubling down on her to make it the most difficult shot. Those kids wanted it."
Neither team shot well at the free throw line Saturday. East finished 9-23, while Sissonville shot 22-43.
The Bees made 19 steals Saturday, Tarayn Myers led East with four, Jalyn Jenkins, Kyleigh Fridley and Morgan Cochran each with three, Shupe with two, and Rogers and Emma Moore each with one.
The two teams were nearly even on the glass, Sissonville out-rebounding East 38-36. Cochran led the Bees with nine rebounds, while Rogers pulled down eight and Moyer grabbed six.
Cochran and Moyer finished with eight and six points, respectively.
The Bees built a first-half lead with balanced scoring — eight points from Kailee Haymond, five from Rogers, four from Emma Moore and Cochran, three from Moyer and two from Fridley— while Sissonville leaned on Britton, who scored 13 points in the first half.
Coming out for the third quarter though, Sissonville quickly found a rhythm with a quick beat.
Committing to push the ball at a feverish pace after a turnover, rebound or inbounds pass, Sissonville got East in foul trouble, got good looks around the rim before the Bees' defense could get set, and worked their way to the foul line.
For East's part, they spent the third quarter searching for a rhythm of their own. After starting off strong with a 9-3 run to start the quarter, the Bees hit a rut, and ended up being outscored 18-17 in the third.
Momentum stayed on Sissonville's side to start the fourth, with a lightning-quick 8-2 run trimming the East lead to three, 48-45, with six minutes still to play.
Though the game ended up with more drama than what might have been anticipated at halftime, Beckman appreciated how his team pulled through in crunch time.
"We had some lapses there in the third quarter. Missed some free throws, missed a wide open layup, missed some put backs. We've got to be able to stay focused out there.
"We took a timeout to regroup and say hey, they're out-toughing you right now. If we want to take that next step you've got to dig deep and that's what they girls did. They dug deep and showed how tough they are and how hard they've worked to get that victory."
To round out East's scoring total, Haymond finished with 11, Moore scored eight, Fridley finished with two and Shupe finished with one.