East Fairmont girls set historic records in Senior Night win
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Feb. 11—FAIRMONT — The East Fairmont Bees made school history Saturday against Herbert Hoover High, winning their 20th game, an all-time team-best, while also winning their 14th straight game, a school record as well.
"These kids are setting records, they're making a legacy that they can look back on," East Fairmont head coach James Beckman said. "It's great to be a part of that."
The Bees beat the Herbert Hoover Huskies 93-49 on Saturday, shaking off a slow start to pull off a decisive win in a game that was made doubly special by the circumstances bookending it.
Saturday's contest was senior day for East Fairmont, with Morgan Cochran and McKenzie Moyer recognized before the game for their time on the team. After the game, more celebration was in order as the entire team was recognized for their historic 20th win.
"Great senior night for McKenzie Moyer and Morgan Cochran, way to send them out in their last regular season here and give them some motivation going into sectional play," Beckman said.
Freshman Kailee Haymond led the Bees with 24 points, while junior Kenly Rogers scored 20 of her own to go with six assists. The pair combined for 10 3-pointers against the Huskies, their hot shooting helped the Bees pull away from the Huskies in East's regular season finale.
"It's fun to watch them feed off of each other," Beckman said of the two. "How well they play together, they've been playing together for a long time, and they're a special duo. That's a strong backcourt of players. They're capable of shooting deep or taking it to the rim and I'm glad they're on our team."
Cochran put up her second-straight double-double on Saturday, finishing with 14 points and 11 rebounds along with two steals. Kyleigh Fridley joined her teammates in double figures with 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.
East Fairmont got off to a slow start on offense, still managing to lead the duration of the game thanks to a suffocating defense that had Herbert Hoover scrambling just to maintain possession of the ball throughout.
The Huskies did not register a field goal attempt until the 3:10 mark of the first quarter, their first 10 possessions resulting in either free throws or a turnover.
Herbert Hoover ended the first quarter shooting 3-4 from the field, and down 22-11.
As a quirk of the game's script, East Fairmont did not have a defensive rebound in the first quarter — though they had 11 offensive rebounds in the same timeframe. The extra possessions from offensive rebounds and turnovers gave East 30 shot attempts in the period, and time enough to work out some early woes from the field.
"We missed some bunnies in the first quarter, there was some frustration building in some of the kids," Beckman said. "But we talk about not letting your mind take over your talent, and in the second quarter we settled in, we put some nice runs together.
"We came out strong in the third quarter, these kids are resilient and it's good to see. They're hungry, and we've got to be ready for sectional play on the 22nd now."
East Fairmont shot 11-30 in the first quarter.
One Bee who did not muddle through a slow start was Haymond, who connected on three 3-pointers in the first quarter. She would make one more in the second quarter, while Rogers would catch fire and hit a trio of triples of her own in the second.
After managing 22 points in the first quarter off an abundance of offensive rebounds and steals, East scored 27 points on near-50% shooting in the second quarter.
The lead grew to 20, 49-29, by halftime. East allowed only seven points in the third quarter to lead 69-36 going into the final frame.
East's Tarayn Myers recorded her 100th rebound this season, a mark that Beckman has established as a goal for his players on the team.
"That's something big in our program that we pride ourselves on," Beckman said.
When it came to their point of pride, East Fairmont out-rebounded Herbert Hoover 41-18 in the game. Myers grabbed six caroms, and scored three points with two steals.
The Huskies' Ayva Veltri scored 21 against the Bees, the freshman made a pair of 3's and shot 7-7 from the foul line.
Rounding out East's final game of the regular season, Brooklyn Shupe and Emma Moore each scored six, while Absidee Carpenter, McKenzie Moyer, Sarah Ramage and Sophia DeMary each scored two.
The Bees join the postseason fray on Feb. 22 for the start of sectionals, their record sitting at 20-2.
Reach Nick Henthorn at 304-367-2548, on Twitter @nfhenthorn_135 or by email at nhenthorn@timeswv.com.