RACHEL, W.Va. — An 18-3 run in the fourth quarter propelled East Fairmont to their first victory over North Marion since 2007. The Bees pulled away from the Huskies, 68-50. East outscored North 19-8 in the final frame.
“32 minutes is what we do defensively. We don’t let one negative play define who we are. We just keep on battling. Defensively, we were able to get out and run and I thought we wore them down in the fourth quarter,” said East Fairmont head coach James Beckman.
“We are constantly throwing different mixtures at teams. We wanted our defense to ignite our offense.”
The game was tightly-contested through the first three quarters. An 8-0 North Marion run gave the Huskies an early 14-12 edge. However, East scored the final five points in the opening stanza to take a 19-17 lead. The Bees extended that cushion to 35-29 at halftime.
North Marion (1-2) pulled within a basket early in the third before the Bees rebuilt a 7-point lead at 49-42.
Brooklyn Jackson’s 3-pointer on the opening possession of the fourth quarter pulled the Huskies within four points. But the Bees went on a lengthy scoring run and they allowed just five points the rest of the way.
Senior Kenly Rogers, newly-minted as a thousand-point scorer, led all scorers with 20 points.
“She played in a big moment. She is our leader. It was fun to watch her go to work out there.”
Tarayn Myers chipped in with 13 points for the Bees and Brooklyn Shupe added 10.
East Fairmont (4-0) will play their next five games on the road. The Bees, Lewis County (4-0) and Philip Barbour (5-0) are the lone unbeaten teams in the Big 10 Conference.
“It is a huge, quality win for our program. It has been a long time since this program beat North Marion, especially at their house. We’ve got [Class AA] No. 1 Wyoming East next week at their place. This team is battled-tested in the month of December. You know the gauntlet in the Big 10. It is just continuing to make us stronger.”
Jackson and Savannah Walls each scored 13 points to lead the Huskies. Emma Freels added 12 points.