FAIRMONT — The North Marion girls’ basketball team this past season was quite predictable.
It was probably only a few minutes after the Huskies won the 2009 Class AAA championship in the state high school tournament in Charleston that the first fan predicted that “we’ll win it again next year.”
And win it again the Huskies did. And in most impressive fashion.
Last Wednesday, coach Mike Parrish’s Huskies turned back Ripley by a commanding 65-43 margin. Then on Friday evening the Huskies came back from a 27-24 halftime deficit to win the semifinal round game by a 61-50 score over Huntington.
And come Saturday night, the North Marion girls certainly did not disappoint in their championship game with South Charleston. But they did give their fans a few anxious moments by falling back in the second quarter by 23-15 with just over a minute left and by 23-20 at the half.
But this was when the state’s Player of the Year, Mariah Byard, got started. Before she had finished, she had poured through 17 points as North Marion outscored the Black Eagles, 38-22, to wrap up a 58-45 victory. And these points were important as point guard Kelsi Wright’s leg was hurting and thus she took over the point guard role and proceeded to control the game. Byard scored six more points in the second half than South Charleston’s top scorer managed in the entire game. Mariah Byard is quite a player!
North Marion’s team received a major blow when senior Jessica Parsons suffered a season-ending injury back on Jan. 14 against Fairmont Senior High School.
Junior Hailey Garrett had 15 points and 17 rebounds in the win over Nitro and she led the scoring against Huntington with 16 points and seven rebounds and she had nine points and 13 rebounds in the championship round.
The Huskies were honored with three of their stars — Byard, Garrett and Kaitlyn Antolock — being selected to the eight-person all-tournament team. Senior Courtney Swiger, who took Parsons’ place in the starting lineup, had double figures in two of the three games.
This Huskies’ championship just didn’t come during basketball season. These girls play on strong AAU teams throughout the off-season and gain valuable experience. And they practice hard under Parrish, who is a proven winner. He scheduled tournaments in New York and Ohio for his girls against some leading high school teams during the past season.
Now the question is whether the Huskies can win three state titles in a row when the 2011 tournament rolls around. With talent like Mariah Byard returning and the promise shown by Hailey Garrett, plus the reserves who will be returning, it could happen once again!
