Makenzie White and her teammates wanted to send a message Wednesday to the rest of the Class AA field, and it was heard loud and clear.
Makenzie White and her teammates wanted to send a message Wednesday to the rest of the Class AA field, and it was heard loud and clear.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard turned in her second straight triple-double with 35 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as the second-seeded Skyhawks disposed of No. 7 Oak Glen 72-50 in the quarterfinals of the girls state tournament. A paid crowd of 2,966 attended the morning's three-game session at the Civic Center.
Scott (23-2) will take on No. 3 PikeView (18-9) at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the semifinals. The Skyhawks, who have finished as state runners-up the past two seasons, defeated the Panthers 55-54 at home Feb. 4 in the teams' only meeting during the regular season and 63-61 in last year's quarterfinals. PikeView downed No. 6 Frankfort 43-33 in Wednesday's first quarterfinal.
White scored 19 points in the first half to help Scott take an 18-point lead (39-21) at halftime. She converted 8-of-11 shots on a variety of drives and spin moves and finished 14-of-22 shooting and added five steals and two blocks. White also turned in a triple-double in Scott's regional co-finals win over Herbert Hoover.
Scott raced out to a 25-6 bulge after the opening quarter and the Bears (18-8) couldn't catch up in spite of outscoring the Skyhawks in two of the last three quarters. The closest Oak Glen could get was within 11 points in the third period.
"I've been getting a few comments about getting the state player of the year and I definitely wanted to come out here and make a statement that it's not only about me,'' said White, who earned the Mary Ostrowski Award last weekend as the state's top player.
"I'm a team player. We made a statement and I think it came across. We want [the state championship]. It's ours. We're coming for it and be ready.''
White was taken out of the game with 65 seconds left, two points shy of tying the AA state tournament single-game record of 37 points for a second straight year.
Makenzie White and her teammates wanted to send a message Wednesday to the rest of the Class AA field, and it was heard loud and clear.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard turned in her second straight triple-double with 35 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists as the second-seeded Skyhawks disposed of No. 7 Oak Glen 72-50 in the quarterfinals of the girls state tournament. A paid crowd of 2,966 attended the morning's three-game session at the Civic Center.
Scott (23-2) will take on No. 3 PikeView (18-9) at 9:30 a.m. Friday in the semifinals. The Skyhawks, who have finished as state runners-up the past two seasons, defeated the Panthers 55-54 at home Feb. 4 in the teams' only meeting during the regular season and 63-61 in last year's quarterfinals. PikeView downed No. 6 Frankfort 43-33 in Wednesday's first quarterfinal.
White scored 19 points in the first half to help Scott take an 18-point lead (39-21) at halftime. She converted 8-of-11 shots on a variety of drives and spin moves and finished 14-of-22 shooting and added five steals and two blocks. White also turned in a triple-double in Scott's regional co-finals win over Herbert Hoover.
Scott raced out to a 25-6 bulge after the opening quarter and the Bears (18-8) couldn't catch up in spite of outscoring the Skyhawks in two of the last three quarters. The closest Oak Glen could get was within 11 points in the third period.
"I've been getting a few comments about getting the state player of the year and I definitely wanted to come out here and make a statement that it's not only about me,'' said White, who earned the Mary Ostrowski Award last weekend as the state's top player.
"I'm a team player. We made a statement and I think it came across. We want [the state championship]. It's ours. We're coming for it and be ready.''
White was taken out of the game with 65 seconds left, two points shy of tying the AA state tournament single-game record of 37 points for a second straight year.
"Makenzie played a hell of a game,'' said Scott coach John Porter. "It was unbelievable. We were getting the ball to her early and we could have probably done that the whole game and maybe last year she would have done that, but this year she's a totally different teammate.
"She's a great leader. She's making these [freshmen and sophomores] better, but they're also making her better."
Sophomore guard Jaimee Dotson was the only other Scott player in doubles figures with 10 points. Sophomore forward Ali Jo Whitman contributed seven points, 12 boards, six assists and three blocks.
Oak Glen senior guard Payden Eckleberry notched 17 points on 6-of-23 shooting and was the only player to hit double figures for the Bears. She also donated four assists and six steals.
"When you get down early it's tough to come back against a team like that,'' said Oak Glen coach Scott Wiley, whose team shot 28.1 percent in the opening half. "We did fight back, but used a lot of energy to get to that point. The girls played hard.''
Porter said he knows Scott will get PikeView's best shot.
"We're going to have our hands full with PikeView,'' he said. "Last year we got them barely and this season we barely got them. They're going to be on a mission and it's going to be a battle.''
Reach Tommy R. Atkinson at 304-348-4811 or tatkin...@wvgazette.com.
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