FAIRMONT — For many years, women’s basketball just seemed to many observers to be just something for young girls and women to do prior to the “real games” being played by boys and men. It took a long time before women’s games were even covered by the media — and that includes radio and television as well as newspapers.
Fortunately, opinions have changed over the years. The following for women’s basketball has increased greatly over the years and sometimes the girls’ games actually outdraw the boys’.
Take the North Marion girls, for instance, who are seeking their second state championship this week down in Charleston. Their only loss this season was to a team from New York state and they have been ranked No. 1 in the state almost entirely for two years running. The North Marion girls are a big attraction wherever they go and so is their large group of fans.
Coach Steve McDonald’s Fairmont State Lady Falcons last week captured their second title in three years by sweeping past four opponents in six days. This will also be the Lady Falcons’ third trip in six seasons into post-season play. FSU will enter the NCAA Division II regional tonight, given a No. 8 seeding and matched with the No. 1 Division II team in the country — Gannon (Pa.) University.
McDonald has done an excellent job of molding the 2010 Lady Falcons into an excellent ball club — one that’s capable of beating anyone on a good day but also one that has taken its licks on a few occasions this season. But anytime a team comes out on top in a 16-team tournament, good coaching and excellent floor play have entered strongly into the equation. It’s unfortunate that more Marion Countians have not witnessed Fighting Falcon star Ashley Vavrek in action this season because the senior star has demonstrated why McDonald has rated her as one of the best players he has coached in 29 years of basketball.
Up in Morgantown, coach Mike Carey, the Clarksburg native who coached Salem’s men’s team before answering the call from the big “U,” has done an amazing job with the West Virginia University women’s team. Their current ranking is No. 7 in the nation and they finished as runner-up to undefeated Connecticut in the Big East Tournament. They took a 28-4 record into last night’s Big East championship encounter against mighty No. 1 rated-Connecticut and its 71 straight victories and were undefeated at home for the first time ever. And perhaps the best thing about this group of outstanding players is that there is not a senior on the team. Everyone will be back next season, including Liz Rapella, a shooting dynamo, and the Big East Defensive Player of the Year, Sarah Myles.
It’s quite a coincidence that both Fairmont State and West Virginia have been matched with the nation’s No. 1 teams in the same week — and both teams have unbeaten records.
So whether we’re talking about North Marion playing in the State High School Tournament, the Fairmont State Lady Falcons that will be in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional, or the Mountaineers, who enter the NCAA Tournament next week, each team represents women’s basketball programs that have come a long way over the years. Let us hope that will translate into some much appreciated victories in the week ahead and in the immediate future.
