WESTON, W.Va (WV News) — Coming off a season-opening win against Preston last week, the Buckhannon-Upshur girls basketball team fell to rival Lewis County and John Marshall in back-to-back games to dip under .500 for the first time this season.
Buckhannon-Upshur couldn’t keep pace with a potent Lewis offense, falling on Wednesday, 73-48. Harley Dean led the Buccaneers with 17 points and six boards while Alyssa Abel finished with 15 and eight rebounds to lead Buckhannon-Upshur in the loss. Ella Pinkney and Payten Goodwin each delivered career-high efforts while Lexi Piggie turned in a near triple-double performance to lift the Minutemaids to victory.
Pinkney finished with 26 points, four rebounds and eight steals, while Goodwin had 26 points and four steals. Piggie, who got to the basket at will in the game, finished with 13 points, eight rebounds, nine steals and two blocks in the win. The contest was tight throughout the opening quarter with Lewis getting buckets both in transition and in the half court.
The Buccaneers kept it close thanks to an “over the top” approach to combating the Minutemaids’ full court pressure, throwing the ball deep into their own and letting their bigs do the rest. Pinkney and Goodwin set the tone for the evening for the visitors, scoring 11 and 8 respectively, to give Lewis County a 23-17 lead after a quarter. The Buccaneers erased that lead early in the second when Abel tied the it at 23-all by converting on an old-fashioned three-point.
