By Rich Stevens
The St.Marys High School girls basketball team isn’t a stranger to the state tournament semifinals.
More importantly, the Blue Devils aren’t a stranger to nemesis St. Joseph.
Ashley Hall had 15 points and 10 rebounds and St. Marys advanced to the semifinals with a 59-36 victory over Madonna (18-9) on Thursday night at the Charleston Civic Center.
St. Marys’ reward is a tourney date with seven-time defending Class A champion St. Joseph, which has beaten the Blue Devils (23-3) four times in the title game during their current run of championships.
“I apologized to these girls earlier in the week, I had some words come back to me,” St. Marys coach Howard Meeks said. “Maybe we’re all playing for second place. I believe in dreamers and these girls need to have a dream. You think you’re only playing for second place? Then, what are we doing it for?”
St. Marys, which didn’t trail against Madonna in a game that was tied just once, has face St. Joseph four times in the title game, losing 58-44 in 2010, 56-49 in 2011, 73-32 in 2013 and 83-48 in 2014.
The Blue Devils have three Class AA titles to their credit (1985, ’89, ’90) and have reached the semifinals all but one season as a Class A program.
Against the Blue Dons, Jordan Fox had 12 points and Jenna Nichols 10 for St. Marys. Monica Bragg finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead coach Don Ogden’s Blue Dons.
“We had a great season and I couldn’t be prouder,” Ogden said. “Going into playing St. Marys, we knew it would be a tough challenge. They have some quality players. I thought we played real well in the first quarter, but it was a tough battle the rest of the game.”
