By Rich Stevens
Notre Dame’s upset run in the West Virginia Class A girls state high school basketball tournament came to an end in the semifinals on Friday, but not without some trepidation for second-seeded Gilmer County.
The Irish battled back from a 10-point deficit in 1:22 through a flurry of missed Gilmer foul shots and made Notre Dame 3-pointers in a 47-44 victory at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Titans (24-2) move to the Class A championship game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday against the winner of the other single-A semifinal between top-seeded St. Joseph and No. 4 St. Marys.
Gilmer County upset No. 3 Tucker County (51-29) before getting taken to the wire thanks to a woeful performance from the foul line and timely shooting by Notre Dame.
Coach Amy Chapman’s team was 0-6 from the line in the first half, 10-25 in the second and 3-11 in the final 1:36.
“Scary,” Chapman said. “I think it was all in our head. Mackenzie (Huff) is a 90-percent free throw shooter. I think the pressure got to her a little bit. We shoot free throws a lot better than that. These kids have a lot of confidence.”
Notre Dame (17-8) hit just six of its 28 3-pointers, but all of them came in the fourth quarter.
Clare Cistaro hit two in the final 1:03 and attempted one with 7.1 seconds left that was off the mark when the Irish trailed by two. Gilmer’s Riley Fitzwater was fouled on the ensuing possession and hit one foul shot with six seconds left.
“We had a play set up,” Notre Dame coach Ron Ridgway said. “We were going to go inside to Hannah (Griffith) off a pick and they were double teaming her. We said all along if she wasn’t open we would take the shot.
“Clare had the ball at the top of the key and I’ll take that shot 100 times.”
Fitzwater, the 6-foot-4 pivot who was the hero of Gilmer’s first-round victory with a record-setting 12 blocked shots, tied the mark for single-game tournament rebounds with 23 against Notre Dame. Matewan’s Donna Joplin (1984, vs. Parkersburg Catholic) and Circleville’s Christy Cooper (1987, vs. Clay-Battelle) also had 23 in a game.
Fitzwater had 16 points and seven blocked shots, which also set a tournament record. With one game remaining, Fitzwater has 19 blocked shots, breaking the previous Class A all-tournament record of 15 held by Midland Trail’s Jamie Flournoy from 2001. With two more, Fitzwater will own the all-class record, held by Magnolia’s Allison Rothlisberger, whose 20 came against Wyoming East in 2005.
Guard Kylie Shuff finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds for Gilmer. Eight of her rebounds contributed to Gilmer’s 22 second-chance points. She and Fitzwater had 17 of the Titans’ 21 offensive boards.
Cistaro had 15 points for Notre Dame and Griffith added 14 points and nine rebounds. Huff added 11 points for Gilmer.
