CHAPMANVILLE — The upcoming 2022-23 basketball season for the Chapmanville Lady Tigers looks to display some growth from Kristina Gore’s young squad.
Last season, Gore had a team that consisted primarily of freshman and sophomores, the Tigers finished the year with a (9-13) record.
“Even though we were very young, we felt like we underachieved compared to what we could have done,” said Gore. “We were able to win some big games against a few ranked opponents, but we couldn’t capitalize in the post season like we wanted too.”
The Tigers fell in the sectional championship game against Mingo Central last year and then were forced to go on the road and play against the defending state champions in Wyoming East and lost.
“We gave Mingo a much better game than we did the year before, but just couldn’t make it count in the end — we had beaten them twice earlier in the season, but it just wasn’t enough in sectionals to get over the hump and into the state tournament,” said Gore.
Coming into this season, the Tigers are still a young team compared to other opponents around the Cardinal Conference. Gore is expecting to see a more experienced group in her team given they returned four starters from last year.
“Our point guard, Haley Flemming, started as a freshman for us and it is tough having to go out and start your first year at that position — she had some growing pains but coming into this year I think she has grown immensely, and she is going to help us all across the board,” said Gore.
Chapmanville is adding Alaria Evans to their squad for this year. Evans spent her freshman and sophomore seasons at George Washington high school but has since moved back and will be a powerful addition. Alaria was also a standout volleyball player for Chapmanville this season.
Gore is delighted to have a student-athlete in Evans come back to finish out her high school career in Chapmanville.
“She is going to bring a lot of physicality to our team — something we desperately need so she’ll be a major threat all year long.”
The Tigers feel as if they have some of the best talent in Class AA according to Gore.
“We must stay on top of the intangibles; we can have all the talent we want but I want to see their work ethic and intensity improve day in and day out,” said Gore. “It is all about the little things, are we willing to do the things nobody else wants to and can we form that identity about us — if we can do that while staying in line defensively then we’ll have a good year.”
Chapmanville will have a lot of Class AAA matchups throughout the course of this season. Gore understands that they will have many tough games to deal with. Some key matchups this season for the Tigers will be against the likes of Wayne, Logan, Mingo Central, and two new competitors in Fairmont Senior and Robert C. Byrd.
Wayne had given the Tigers some trouble last year beating them twice in the regular season. Chapmanville will also be looking for redemption against Mingo Central. The cross-county rivalry against the defending Class AAA state champions in the Logan Wildcats will also be quite a challenge for Gore and her squad this upcoming season.
Chapmanville will host Fairmont Senior in a Big Ten versus Cardinal Conference challenge for their second test of the season. The Polar Bears were the runners-up last year in Class AAA. The Tigers will hope to get rolling quickly and prove that they can state their case for the tournament at the end of the season.
You can catch the first game of Chapmanville’s season on Dec. 1. The Tigers will be starting the year off against the Herbert Hoover Huskies at 7 p.m. at Danny Godby Gymnasium in Chapmanville.
2022-23 Chapmanville Girls Basketball Schedule
Dec 1 Herbert Hoover — Home 7 p.m.
Dec 3 Fairmont Senior — Home 2 p.m.
Dec 6 Poca — Away 7 p.m.
Dec 9 Oak Hill — Home 7 p.m.
Dec 13 Mingo Central — Home 7PM
Dec 16 Rogers Classic Summers Co. — Away TBD
Dec 17 Rogers Classic Summers Co. — Away TBD
Dec 20 Wayne — Away 6 p.m.
Dec 23 Belfry Country Roads Showcase — Home TBD
Dec 30 Summers County — Home 7 p.m.
Jan 3 Nitro — Away 7 p.m.
Jan 7 Robert C. Byrd (Wildcat Classic) — Away TBD
Jan 9 Scott — Home 7 p.m.
Jan 11 Logan — Away 7 p.m.
Jan 17 Mingo Central — Away 7:30 p.m.
Jan 25 Sissonville — Away 7 p.m.
Jan 31 Wayne — Home 7 p.m.
Feb 3 Logan — Home 7 p.m.
Feb 9 Scott — Away 7 p.m.
Feb 11 Winfield — Away 3:30 p.m.
Feb 15 Charleston Catholic — Home 7 p.m.
Feb 18 Greenbrier East — Away 7:30 p.m.
2022-23 Chapmanville Girls Basketball Roster
Number Name
1 Haley Fleming
2 Braylee Podunavac
3 Makayla Crum
4 Laken Parks
5 Riley Lucas
10 Daizi Farley
10 Hollee Blair
11 Jena Dingess
11 Savannah Kirk
12 Chelsea McCloud
13 Jaiden Mahon
14 Julie Campbell
15 Chloe Thompson
20 Bella Belcher
21 Leah Ball
22 Claire Dingess
23 Baylie Crum
23 Brooke Christian
24 Makayla Parsons
32 Bryanna Marcum
33 Alaira Evans
43 Rylee Pritchard
43 Aayla Browning
