One away from a repeat

By Dan Stillwell

CHARLESTON — So how do you stop Jolysa Brown?

Weir became the latest team to try — and fail — to hold the state Player of the Year down Friday at the state high school girls basketball tournament.

The Red Riders pummeled Brown every time she got the ball inside, but the 6-foot-1 Summers County center scored 23 points anyway to lead the Bobcats to a 64-35 victory and put them into today’s noon Class AA championship game against Lincoln.

Brown was held to just four baskets, but she more than made up for it with 15-of-18 shooting from the foul line.

“When Jolysa catches the ball, the hammer comes from all directions,” coach Wayne Ryan said. “To take the beating she takes and make that many free throws is pretty good.”

Brown was 9 of 16 from the stripe in an 83-31 quarterfinal win over Westside.

“(Wednesday) my foul shooting wasn’t that great,” she said. “But if I’m focused and into it, I am a pretty good free throw shooter. I made a point to bring my percentage up this year.”

As usual, Summers (25-2) worked the ball into Brown early and often. She had six first-quarter points as the Bobcats moved out 16-9, and 12 as they led 33-17 at the half.

“(Brown) is good. She knows how to draw fouls,” said Weir forward Ali Bobalik, who tallied just six points and one rebound due to foul trouble.

“She doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.”

Besides the 23 points, Brown grabbed 13 rebounds, blocked six shots and had three assists and two steals.

Red Riders coach Bill Smith said, “She’s hard to stop in there. She’s a legitimate Player of the Year.”

Summers’ other inside threat, junior Emily Blevins, and sophomore point guard Ashley Brown were in foul trouble for much of the contest.

Others stepped up, helping the Bobcats avoid the fate of No. 2 Winfield, which fell 69-57 to Lincoln when standouts Katie Cloxton and Brittany Lee went a combined 14 of 45 from the floor.

Freshman guard Hallie Gunnoe chipped in 11 points and six rebounds, while senior guard Kelsey Brewer added nine points and six boards.

Meanwhile, the Summers defense contained No. 5 Weir (14-12) without a double-figure scorer.

Janelle Jones and Kassi Robinson both had eight points for the Riders.

Bobcats senior forward Rebecca Newsome not only held Weir sparkplug forward Ciara Jones to just seven points on 3-of-11 shooting, but also contributed six of Summers’ 17 steals.

“My main focus was stopping Jones,” Newsome said. “We knew she was Weir’s go-to player and we had to take her out of that.”

The Bobcats will make their third consecutive appearance in the state championship game today. They fell to Winfield in 2006 but avenged the loss last year.

“We’re really proud of our program,” Ryan said. “We’ve had a lot of success, but we’ve never won back-to-back state championships.

“I think everyone anticipated Summers County versus Winfield, but you play the games to get there and Lincoln did a great job today.”

WEIR (13-12)

N.Robinson 0-3 0-0 0, C.Jones 3-11 0-0 7, J.Jones 1-6 6-8 8, Dankovchik 0-10 3-6 3, Bobalik 1-3 4-5 6, Kuhns 0-3 2-2 2, Rice 0-0 0-0 0, Pitchok 0-3 0-0 0, K.Robinson 3-10 0-2 8, Gianessi 0-0 0-0 0, Dalrymple 0-2 1-2 1. Totals 8-51 16-25 35.

SUMMERS COUNTY (25-2)

Blevins 2-4 0-0 4, A.Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Newsome 4-9 0-1 8, Brewer 4-9 1-3 9, J.Brown 4-9 15-18 23, Gore 0-5 0-0 0, Mack 0-6 0-0 0, Hal.Gunnoe 5-10 1-3 11, Han.Gunnoe 0-1 0-0 0, Cox 2-3 0-1 4, Estes 1-1 1-2 3, Lively 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 18-28 64.

W 9 8 12 6 — 35

SC 16 17 16 15 — 64

3-point goals—Weir 3-11 (K.Robinson 2-5, C.Jones 1-3, N.Robinson 0-1, Dankovchik 0-1, Pitchok 0-1), Summers County 0-3 (Blevins 0-1, Mack 0-1, Hal.Gunnoe 0-1). Fouled out—Bobalik. Rebounds—Weir 40 (Gianessi 10), Summers County 50 (J.Brown 13). Assists—Weir 2 (N.Robinson, Pitchok 1), Summers County 14 (Hal.Gunnoe 5). Total fouls—Weir 22, Summers County 21.