Tunstall girls hammered by Bassett

RIDGEWAY — Even though they had managed just four points thus far, the Tunstall Trojans were still very much in Wednesday’s Piedmont District semifinal game against the Bassett Bengals as the second quarter got under way.

That’s when Jennifer Blankenship took over. The Bassett senior connected on two 3-pointers and a 2-point jumper in the span of less than 3 minutes, helping the Bengals quickly push a 3-point lead into double digits. Bassett led by 19 at halftime and rolled to a 66-39 victory over the Trojans at Magna Vista High School.

“That was a momentum swing,” said Bassett coach Melissa Blair. “She got hot for us. She’s been consistent all year for us behind the 3-point line, and she did a good job.”

Third-seeded Tunstall (8-10 overall) built an early 4-0 lead on baskets by Molly Nanney and Kelsey Smith while the Bengals went nearly 5 minutes without scoring. But once Bassett did get on the board, it went on a 25-1 run to build a 20-point advantage late in the second period. 

“We got away from what we’re supposed to have been doing,” said Trojans coach Anthony Parrish. “We held them to an 8-4 score, and I felt like we were right where we wanted to be. But we didn’t take care of the ball, we threw some errant passes and it got away from us a little.”

Blankenship and Kiki Via each had eight points by halftime, giving the Bengals a 29-10 advantage. Bassett enjoyed a 20-13 rebounding advantage in the opening half and produced five steals to just one for Tunstall, which has just six players on its roster.

The second-seeded Bengals (15-7) led 45-19 after three periods and coach Melissa Blair cleared her bench at that point. The Trojans scored 20 points in the period, exceeding their output for the first three periods combined. Nanney hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final quarter and Taylor Dix also had one.

“That’s the way they normally shoot during the game,” Parrish said. “We never got a chance to get in our offenses or anything like that and it really hurt us tonight.”

Via led the Bengals with 10 points and Sarah Salmons chipped in with nine. All 12 players on the Bassett roster scored at least two points.

Smith paced the Trojans with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Nanney joined her in double figures with 11 points before leaving the game with an apparent ankle injury in the final seconds.

Bassett will face No. 1 Patrick County in Friday’s championship game. The Cougars defeated Magna Vista 63-41 in Wednesday’s other semifinal. Tunstall and Magna Vista will meet in the third place game at 6 p.m.

The Trojans have qualified for next week’s regional tournament, and according to Parrish, they should learn their opponent by this weekend.