Yes, she is going to be good!!!!!
PRINCETON — It’s usually a good idea to foul a freshman and send her to the charity stripe.
But that’s not a good idea if the freshman is McKenzie Akers.
A national foul-shooting finalist in recent years as a middle school student, the Princeton High ninth grader made 11 of her 12 foul shots Tuesday night, scoring 20 points to help the Tigers to a 73-61 win over Woodrow Wilson.
Akers contributed six of Princeton’s 14 steals and dished five assists as the Tigers got out to a 2-0 start on the season.
Woodrow Wilson coach Bernard Bostick said, “I know she’s a freshman, but if tonight is any indication, this will be a great year for her.”
Princeton used a 13-5 run in the middle of the second half to push its lead to 27-17, and a hook shot by Mary Beth Miller produced a 43-29 advantage at halftime. Woodrow Wilson was 8-for-35 from the floor in the first two quarters.
The Lady Flying Eagles from Beckley came alive in the fourth quarter with Alexis Allen leading the way, even though she had already incurred three fouls.
Twice in the final four minutes, Woodrow Wilson cut the lead to six points, but Princeton went 8-for-10 from the foul line and Krystle White hit a three-pointer — only the second trey of the night for the Tigers — to hold off any comeback. White ended with 12 points and Miller added 10.
Senior Brittany Lankford fought hard inside and hauled down 13 rebounds, 10 of the defensive variety, to keep Princeton possessions alive.
The leading scorer for Woodrow Wilson was Haley Snyder, whose five successful field goals all came from beyond the three-point line. She was 4-for-4 at the foul line, part of a 14-for-22 shooting night in that department by Beckley.
Princeton head coach Debbie Ball knew what she was likely to see from the Flying Eagles.
“Beckley will take the threes, and they have good rebounders as well,” Ball said. “That makes it a little hard to match up. It’s hard to cover the threes and get to the rebounds as well.”
“We tried to play some different defenses,” she said. “We try to mix it up. We’re experimenting at this point. ... We’re really learning the game. By midseason we should be able to execute.”
She said when Woodrow Wilson made its late run, “That was a little scary. We made some bad decisions. We threw some bad passes and hurried up the court. We were playing like we were behind. But I think they regrouped and played a little smarter — and Beckley was missing their shots.”
Bostic said, “They played well, they hit their free throws, they did everything they had to do.”
He said the early going was again a concern as the Flying Eagles dropped to 0-2 on the year. “For some reason, we’re having trouble getting started. The focus of the starting five is not what it ought to be.”
“Right now, we’re not getting consistency out of our post players,” he said.
Princeton, with two Mountain State Athletic Conference wins already in the books, will travel to Nicholas County for a game on Thursday. Woodrow Wilson will play at Riverside on Thursday, its last game before Christmas break.
Princeton 73, Woodrow Wilson 61
Woodrow Wilson (0-2)
Olivia Moore 2 0-0 5, Shaitice Trigg. 3 0-0 7, Kadaja Steelman 1 0-0 2, Haley Snyder 5 4-4 19, Alexis Allen 2 2-2 6, Monique Rhodes 1 2-6 4, Danielle Miller 1 0-0 2, Dawnshay Heath 2 5-6 9, Ashley Chipps 3 1-2 7 Totals: 20 14-22 61.
Princeton (2-0)
McKenzie Akers 4 11-12 20, Krystle White 4 3-6 12, Hannah Preservati 3 2-2 8, Brittany Lankford 2 4-7 8, Cydney Graham 2 3-5 7, Mary Beth Miller 4 2-2 10, Cheyanne Walker 4 0-0 8. Totals: 23 25-34 73.
WW 15 14 17 13 — 61
P 19 24 16 15 — 73
Three-point goals: WW: 7 (Snyder 5, Trigg, Moore); P: 2 (Akers 2, White).
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