Transition points lead Blair Oaks girls to sectional win vs. Eldon

Grace Boessen of Blair Oaks protects the ball while looking for a teammate during Wednesday night's Class 4 sectional game against Eldon in Wardsville.
Grace Boessen of Blair Oaks protects the ball while looking for a teammate during Wednesday night's Class 4 sectional game against Eldon in Wardsville.

WARDSVILLE - Blair Oaks and Eldon combined for three points during a more than six-minute span in the second quarter.

That was a tad slow for Blair Oaks' liking.

The Lady Falcons began to swerve and sprint through the Lady Mustang defense in the third quarter as they sped to a 62-46 victory Wednesday night in the Class 4 sectionals.

The win advances Blair Oaks to the state quarterfinals for the first time since the 2006-07 season, when the Lady Falcons placed third in Class 3.

"We continue to just stick together and we're playing such good basketball right now," Blair Oaks coach Brandon Moore said. "We've got one more to get (to the Final Four)."

Blair Oaks (17-10), which has won 11 straight games, will head Saturday to Mount Vernon to face the fourth-ranked Mountaineers (26-3) in the quarterfinals. Game time is 1 p.m.

Blair Oaks finished off the third quarter on a 10-0 run that started with Alyssa Hargus snatching away an in-bounds pass and getting the ball up the floor to Mallorie Fick for a layup while drawing a foul.

"We got a little sped up I think at times," Eldon coach Isaiah Rhine said, "and that played into their hands a little bit with how we were making our passes."

The free throw was off the mark, but Grace Boessen grabbed the rebound and Bailey Rissmiller dove to the floor for an offensive rebound during that possession, leading to a 3-pointer for Mallorie Fick.

Fick, who made four outside shots on her way to a team-high 18 points, added a 3 from the right wing on a kickout in the final seconds of the quarter for a 47-26 lead.

"Keep shooting," Moore said. "Shooters are gonna shoot and make shots."

The Lady Falcons led by as many as 25 after a Fick steal led to a Rissmiller layup and a 51-26 lead with 7:23 remaining.

Fick recorded her sixth steal when she jumped up in front oF an Eldon player in the backcourt to take away a pass and scored for a 57-36 lead with 4:31 remaining.

"It's more of how you play, how you approach defense every single time you're on the floor," Moore said of Blair Oaks' steals. "That's got to be aggressive and the girls have good instincts."

Eldon got as close as 14 in the fourth quarter after Haley Henderson got fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws.

Henderson scored a game-high 28 points, making 6-of-7 at the free-throw line and 6-of-10 from 3-point range.

"The scary thing about her is she's a sophomore, so she's gonna just keep getting better," Rhine said. "Last year she was a 19 percent 3-point shooter and I think she's gonna end this season at like 37, 38 percent, so that just shows the kind of work and effort she's put in.

"And the same thing with Sydney Halderman. She's a freshman handling all the pressure in the biggest games for us. She's just going to get better."

Halderman added 10 points and five rebounds for Eldon. Henderson and Jaci Mueller led Eldon with seven rebounds each.

The Lady Mustangs end their season at 9-16.

"We've made like two years of progress in one year just based on their effort, their energy and their focus," Rhine said.

Blair Oaks began the game on a 10-2 run, getting back-to-back steals from Rissmiller that turned into four of the senior's eight points.

"I think grit is the word," Moore said. "She's been playing with so much over the last few games. Without her we wouldn't be the same, obviously. She plays almost the whole game for us and she's somebody that we just put the ball in her hands and she makes things happen, especially in really tough situations."

Blair Oaks led 19-8 before Henderson made a 3 from the corner with :30 left in the opening quarter.

Henderson scored the first five points of the second quarter to pull Eldon within 19-16.

"That's a team that can really score," Moore said. "And of course you saw (Henderson). I don't think we could have played it any better, to be completely honest with you. We'll go back and watch film, but I think we were there on the catch and she just doesn't need any space to get a shot off and and had a big night."

Fick answered with a corner 3 with 6:51 left in the second quarter, but neither team made a field goal the rest of the half.

Henderson made a free throws with 3:44 on the clock for the final point of the half, which ended with Blair Oaks leading 24-17.

Natalie Heckman scored eight of those 24 points on her way to 16 points. She also led Blair Oaks with seven rebounds.

"Fortunately she got off to a hot start," Moore said.