The Potomac Highlands Dispatch - the online newspaper

Frankfort 70
Braxton County 31

Braxton Co. (20-6)
Hunter Sadaro 1, 0-0 2, Taylor Bragg 5, 0-0 13, Corri Phillips 1, 3-4 5, Baylee Stewart 1, 0-0 3, Anne Golinsky 2, 0-4 4, Jazmine Valdivieso 0, 1-2 1, Cortney Johnson 0, 1-2 1, Montana Flint 1, 0-0 2
TOTALS 11, 5-19 31

Frankfort (17-9)
Madison Shambaugh 4, 7-9 17, Katie Bush 1, 1-2 3, Saydi Whiteman 4, 2-2 10, Savannah Hose 2, 4-12 9, Stephanie Bills 4, 4-4 12, Katie Jan 0, 4-4 4, Mikala Miller 2, 0-0 5, Savannah Brown 1, 0-0 2, Lulu Ghideshi 1, 0-0 2, Emily Blankenship 1, 0-0 2, Stephanie Cornachia 2, 0-0 4
TOTALS 22, 22-33 70

Braxton Co.10 6 5 10 -- 31
Frankfort 15 25 15 15 --70

3 Pt. FG: Braxton 4 (Bragg 3, Stewart 1), Frankfort 4 (Shambaugh 2, Hose 1, Miller 1)

Rebounds: Braxton 33 (Phillips 8), Frankfort 39 (Blankenship 9).

Assists: Braxton 10, Frankfort 12.

Steals: Braxton 12, Frankfort 19.

Turnovers: Braxton 33, Frankfort 19.

Falcons earn first tournament win since 1980, advance to semifinals
* Frankfort forces 33 turnovers en route to convincing win
* Falcons face Summers County (26-0) tonight

By Nathan Hayes
PhDispatch.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va., March 10 -- The fourth-seeded Frankfort Falcons showed that they meant business in Charleston with a 70-31 rout of No. 5 Braxton County Eagles in the West Virginia Class AA quarterfinals Thursday night at the Charleston Civic Center.

The win is the first state tournament victory for the school since 1980 when Frankfort was the state runner-up.

“This is a good start to a tournament we're very prepared for,” Frankfort coach Erin McKenzie said following the game. “Our defense executed extremely well and forced a lot of turnovers.”

The Falcons forced the Eagles into 33 turnovers.

Frankfort was led by Madison Shambaugh with 17 points and five steals. 13 of Shambaugh's 17 came in the second quarter. On her scoring spurt: “We knew we had to set the tempo and we knew what we had to do on offense. I just happened to be the one with the ball in my hands.”

Frankfort got 12 points out of post player Stephanie Bills and nine points from Savannah Hose. Hose also led the team with seven steals.

Frankfort trailed just once in the entire contest, surrendering the game's first basket, a three from Taylor Bragg. The Falcons then went on an 11-0 run aided by eight points from Bills and never gave up the lead the rest of the way.

The Falcons came out in a full court press to force turnovers and score quickly.

“We came out with the press because we knew how important it was to have a strong start.” McKenzie said. “Our girls came out with a lot of confidence.”

Braxton would close to within three, 13-10, late in the first quarter, but Frankfort asserted its will with a 27-6 surge to close the half with Shambaugh scoring nearly half of the team's points as Frankfort took a 40-16 lead into the locker room.

The Falcon defense forced 18 Eagles turnovers and turned them into 18 points in the dominant first half performance.

Frankfort kept up their intensity in the second half with a 15-5 advantage in the third. The Falcons ended the third on an 11-0 run with mostly reserves in the game.

After scoring the first three points of the fourth, making it 14 consecutive points, Frankfort cleared the bench for the remainder of the game and received strong efforts from Emily Blankenship hauling down a team-high nine rebounds and Lulu Ghideshi, who hit a buzzer-beater.

After that Frankfort celebrated their first win in Charleston in 31 years.
The Falcons will be in action in the West Virginia class AA Semifinals tonight against top-seeded Summers County, undefeated through 26 games.

Frankfort lost to Summers County in the quarterfinals last year 87-28. Summers advanced to the semifinals with a 80-38 win over Chapmanville that the Falcons were on hand to see.

“After watching (Summers) today we realize we can play with them. If we limit our mistakes we can beat them,” Falcon forward Saydi Whiteman said after the game.

Whiteman had 10 points and three assists in the Quarterfinal victory.

Summers County set the West Virginia basketball record for consecutive wins earlier this season and their streak currently stands at 94 games.

“We're facing the same team that we had trouble with last year,” McKenzie said. “We're a totally different team though this year.”

The Falcons will need a near perfect effort if they hope to halt the state's longest winning streak. Frankfort's Cinderella bid will happen Friday night with a 7:15 p.m. tip-off.