Published: March 07, 2008 11:51 pm         

Girls prep basketball state tournament roundup

Class AA

Lincoln 69, Winfield 57

CHARLESTON (AP) — Shanna Akers scored 23 points and No. 3 Lincoln advanced to its first berth in the championship game with a 69-57 upset of No. 2 Winfield in the semifinals on Friday.

The Cougars (24-2) jumped ahead for good in the second quarter and twice built leads of 17 points.

Winfield (24-2) couldn’t secure its fourth title-game appearance in five years, shooting 26 percent (22-of-85) from the floor and making only 7 of 17 free throws. The Generals’ 57 points matched their lowest point total of the season.

Lincoln’s Kayla Finch had her second straight double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Ally Riley scored eleven.

Katie Cloxton led Winfield with 22 points. Brittany Lee scored 15 and Kelsey Griffith had 14 points before fouling out.



Class AAA

Huntington 60, Morgantown 49

CHARLESTON (AP) — Whitney Bays had 24 points and 11 rebounds to give top-seeded Huntington a berth in the Class AAA championship game for the second straight season with a 60-49 win over Morgantown on Friday night.

The Highlanders (25-1) are looking for their first title since 2000.

No. 4 Morgantown (20-6) couldn’t reach the championship game for the fifth time in six seasons.

Huntington shot 52 percent (25-of-48) from the floor and held Morgantown to 33 percent (18-of-54).



Class A

Wheeling Central 35, Parkersburg Catholic 29

CHARLESTON (AP) — Kat Stiglich scored 14 points and Wheeling Central came back from seven points down in the fourth quarter to beat Parkersburg Catholic 35-29 in the girls Class A semifinals Friday.

No. 2 Wheeling Central (22-4) won the rematch of last year’s semifinals and advanced to the championship game for the first time since it won its only girls title in 2004.

No. 3 Parkersburg Catholic (20-4) failed in its bid for a fourth straight title-game trip, going scoreless over the final six minutes after building a 29-22 lead.

The 64 combined points were the lowest in the Class A tournament since Pendleton County beat Burch 39-19 in the 2003 quarterfinals.

Teresa Tokodi had 15 points and 10 rebounds in her final game for Parkersburg Catholic, which was held to 29 percent shooting (11-of-38) from the floor.

It marked the end of an era at Parkersburg Catholic. Four Tokodi sisters were part of championship teams in 1997, 1998, 2005 and 2006, with two apiece for Elizabeth, Sarah and Teresa and one for Rebecca.



Huntington St. Joseph 58, Charleston Catholic 48

CHARLESTON (AP) — Dusti Chapman scored 20 points and St. Joseph earned a berth in the Class A championship game for the first time with a 58-48 win over defending champion Charleston Catholic on Friday night.

In only its second state tournament in school history, St. Joseph (22-4) will meet No. 2 Wheeling Central (22-4) today.

Jill Pulley added 15 points for St. Joseph. Alex Thomas scored 12 points for No. 5 Charleston Catholic (14-12) and Maria Femia had 11.

The last time these two teams met came in last year’s quarterfinals, when Charleston Catholic was the top seed but struggled to a 43-40 win over No. 8 St. Joseph.

St. Joseph forced 26 turnovers and made 18 steals.