PARKERSBURG-It was a rare event when Warren girls basketball coach Amy (Way) Colgrove lost a game at Memorial Fieldhouse during her playing days with the Big Reds from Parkersburg. Wednesday night was one of those occasions, however, as Marietta junior Erica Dawson tallied a game-high 38 points to lead the Tigers to the championship of the 4th annual Jack Stephens Memorial Tournament with a 72-63 win over the Warriors.
"When I played it (the tournament) was played in the fall," explained Colgrove. "Then when they moved girls basketball to the winter, we didn't have the tournament during my last two years here. But it is always a special feeling coming back and playing in this facility."
It was more special for the Tigers' Dawson.
Article Photos
Photo by Jeff Baughan
Marietta’s Erica Dawson, left, battles Warren's Grace Proctor for a rebound Wednesday during the finals of the Jack Stephens Memorial Tournament at Parkersburg. Marietta won, 72-63.
Championship Game
Marietta 72, Warren 63
Dawson, who came within one point of tying the school single game scoring record, put on a shooting clinic in Wednesday's championship final as the junior canned 7-of-20 shots from the field and 20-of-23 attempts from the free throw line to secure her game-high total.
Fact Box
4th annual Jack Stephens
Memorial Holiday Tournament
Memorial Fieldhouse
Championship Game
Marietta 72, Warren 63
Marietta 14 20 21 17-72
Warren 15 8 16 24-63
MARIETTA (5-2)
Amanda Brown 3 6-8 14, Erica Dawson 7 20-23 38, Kristin Hill 1 3-4 5, Katilyn Cozzens 1 2-2 4, Maddie Farrar 1 1-1 3, Alexis Walsh 0 0-0 0, Luisa Barton 0 2-2 2, Lain Weppler 1 2-4 4, Taylor Smith 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 15 36-44 72. 3-Point Goals: Brown 2, Dawson 4.
WARREN (6-3)
MacKenzie Brooks 2 1-2 6, Grace Proctor 3 2-2 8, Amy Fleming 1 0-0 2, Jordanna Rauch 3 2-3 8, Emma Ryan 5 1-1 11, Mackenzie Ullman 1 0-0 2, Kendra Lynch 1 0-0 3, Kasey White 4 2-3 10, Victoria Buzzard 4 2-2 13. TOTALS: 24 10-13 63. 3-Point Goals: Brooks 1, Lynch 1, Buzzard 3.
GAME STATS
MARIETTA: Shooting: 15 of 42. Rebounds: 35 (Dawson 10, Brown 6). Assists: 4 (Walsh 2). Steals: 14 (Dawson 5, Brown 4). Turnovers: 14.
WARREN: Shooting: 24 of 65. Rebounds: 37 (Proctor 7, White 8). Assists: 15 (Proctor 4, White 4). Steals: 4 (Brooks 2). Turnovers: 18.
Consolation Game
Parkersburg 63, Winfield 61
Winfield 17 13 13 18-61
Parkersburg 21 13 12 17-63
WINFIELD (1-6)
Bethany Jordan 6 1-2 14, Haeley Moore 5 9-9 20, Mackenzie Arthur 0 2-2 2, Mara Rhodes 4 1-2 10, Chelsea Kirby 0 2-2 2, Carly Cooper 3 1-2 8, Andrea Hart 2 1-2 5. TOTALS: 20 17-12 61. 3-Point Goals: Jordan 1, Moore 1, Rhodes 1, Cooper 1.
PARKERSBURG (4-5)
Dakota Hefner 0 2-4 2, Imani Ward 5 2-2 12, Paige Warner 2 1-2 5, Precious Ramsey 8 0-0 17, Megan Morrison 1 4-4 6, Kennedy Walker 8 0-0 16, Kailey Cox 2 0-0 5, Trista McGrutty 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 26 9-12 63. 3-Point Goals: Ramsey 1, Cox 1.
GAME STATS
WINFIELD: Shooting: 20 of 50. Rebounds: 32 (Hart 8, Jordan 6). Assists: 11 (Rhodes 4, Jordan 3). Steals: 11 (Hart 4, Moore 3). Turnovers: 20.
PARKERSBURG: Shooting: 26 of 46. Rebounds: 19 (Walker 5, Morrison 4). Assists: 17 (Morrison 5, Ward 4). Steals: 9 (Ramsey 4, Morrison 4). Turnovers: 19.
NEXT GAMES: Princeton at Parkersburg on Jan. 7. New Philadephia at Marietta at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 29. Marietta at Warren on Jan. 4.
"A very special player," explained Marietta head coach Scott Cozzens. "I may be bias, but she is the best player in the area and she showed it in this tournament."
Coming off of a 21-point outburst in Marietta's 65-50 win over Winfield on Tuesday, Dawson wasted little time in making her presence felt against the Warriors' defense, scoring 10 of her points in the first quarter as the Tigers pulled to within one point, 15-14, after the first eight minutes of action. Marietta took the lead for good, 23-21, on a pair of Dawson free throws at the 3:12 mark of the second quarter and never looked back in recording its fifth win in seven outings.
"It's a non-conference game for us," said Cozzens. "But these kids play against one another all summer. They will face each other three more times this year. She (Colgrove) knows our team inside and out and we know her team inside and out. Tonight, we just did a better job of executing on offense and defense."
Warren, now 6-3 with a home encounter against the Tigers slated for Jan. 4, was paced by reserve Victoria Buzzard's 13 points-nine coming on three triples in the third quarter-while Emma Ryan added 11 points and Kasey White chipped in with 10.
Marietta, which returns to action at 7:30 p.m. today at home against New Philadelphia, received 14 points from Amanda Brown. The Tigers made good on 36 of 44 opportunities at the charity stripe compared to Warren's 10-of-13.
"We don't really emphasis it (free throw shooting) any more than any other shot we take," explained the coach. "Other than our first game, we have done a pretty good job at the free throw line and it definitely made the difference tonight."
Consolation Game
Parkersburg 63, Winfield 61
It wasn't a Mountain State Athletic Conference contest, but it might as well have been as the two MSAC rivals battled down to the final seconds before a Precious Ramsey baseline jumper with three seconds left on the clock sealed the Big Reds' 63-61 victory.
"Foul trouble was our biggest adversity tonight," said Big Red head coach Kenny DeMoss. "But I thought our kids did a good job of hanging in there. It was a big win for us for that reason."
Ramsey finished with a team-high 17 points and added four steals and a pair of assists on the game while Imani Ward chipped in with 12 points-all in the first quarter-before fouling out with 4:06 left to play in the game.
Winfield, now 1-6 on the season, was led by Haeley Moore's game-high 20 points. Bethany Jordan added 14 points and Mara Rhodes chipped in with 10 for the Generals. Kennedy Walker came off the Big Red bench to chip in 16 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.
"We had some kids come in off of the bench and give us some big minutes tonight," continued DeMoss. "Kennedy (Walker) played a solid game and Kailey (Cox) hit some big shots when we needed them most."
Parkersburg, now 4-5 on the season, returns to action on Friday, Jan. 7, when Princeton comes to the Memorial Fieldhouse.
