Huge 2nd quarter lifts Buckhannon-Upshur over Robert C. Byrd

In that run, the Bucs only allowed one basket as they pulled away for a 56-36 victory over Robert C. Byrd on Monday at Robert C. Byrd.

“We were kind of slow in the first half — offensively and defensively,” B-U coach Alicia Lentz said. “Finally at halftime, we talked about it. They gathered themselves and came out to play in the second half.”

B-U started in a full-court press and backed off of it later, but remained in its man-to-man defense in the half court.

The end result? The Bucs forced 22 turnovers.

“It’s turnovers and second-chance points,” Robert C. Byrd coach Robert Shields said. “You take those away, we had a great first quarter. We gave up a 3-(pointer) towards the end of the first quarter and made it 8-7, and then we come out and get outscored 21 (to two). They went on a 21-2 run, we only scored two points in the second quarter, that kills you.”

B-U’s Alyssa Abel had a double-double with 12 points and 15 rebounds. Harley Dean scored 15 points with six steals, five rebounds and four assists. Allie Key added 12 points with nine rebounds.

The game was scoreless until the 2:55 mark of the first quarter when Abel hit a jumper from the left corner.

RCB’s Savanna Sherrard hit two 3-pointers, both from the right wing, and Audrey Junkins hit a layup that put the Eagles ahead 8-4.

It turned out to be the Eagles’ last basket for a long time, as that’s when B-U’s 21-2 run began — with Brooklyn Smith’s 3-pointer from the right wing.

In that run, Aubrey Key scored four points while Abel and Dean each added three points amidst that run. RCB’s only basket during the run was a key to post layup by Jada Sutherlin.

In addition to the 22 turnovers, the Bucs not only limited many of RCB’s offensive possessions to one and done, but outrebounded the Eagles 31-19.

“That’s one thing we’ve really hit hard on,” Lentz said. “We have the size, we need to rebound like crazy, and if we can outrebound teams, usually, that helps us win.”

The run lasted until the third quarter and culminated when B-U’s Dean found Key in the post for a layup that gave the Bucs a 27-10 lead.

RCB finally ended the streak with an Amirah Moore jumper from the key, and that was followed by Sutherlin’s 3-pointer from the right wing. A bit later, Sutherlin hit a jumper, which cut the Eagles’ deficit to 29-17.

“At times, we showed good ball movement when we made the third, fourth and fifth pass, when we looked for the open people, I thought there were times that we did things well,” Shields said. “But, we have to learn to box out. It’s a want, and we have to quit making unforced turnovers.”

B-U went on another big run, this time a 13-4 run, taking a 44-23 lead on Dean’s coast-to-coast layup off of a rebound that she got.

A bit later, Dean hit another coast-to-coast layup, this time stretching the Bucs’ lead to 48-26.

There was, however, a run that RCB went on, which was late in the fourth quarter. After Kendall Sturm hit a layup, drew a foul and buried the plus-one free throw, Sutherlin hit a 3-pointer and Moore hit a pair of layups in the final seconds.

Sutherlin scored a team-high 13 points. Moore added nine points and Sturm and Sherrard each scored six points.

RCB hosts North Marion at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. B-U hosts Elkins at 6 p.m. Wednesday.