Aaliyah

PC-Wtown: Part III coming soon

Parkersburg Catholic’s Aaliyah Brunny attempts to drive past Wahama’s Lauren Noble during the Crusaderettes’ 67-31 Class A Region IV, Section 1 semifinal Tuesday win over the White Falcons. Photo by Tyler Bennett

PARKERSBURG– Parkersburg Catholic head coach Marty Vierheller made it clear he and the Crusaderettes are only focusing on the now and not looking ahead, as they quickly took care business, defeating the Wahama White Falcons 67-31 here Tuesday in the Class A Region IV Section 1 semifinals.

“Absolutely no thought of looking ahead, we had some very specific things we wanted to run with tonight. Coach (Tom Carr) and I were looking at our game plan, pretty much did we wanted to do,” Vierheller later added there are still some areas to look at on film. “We still have a number of things that we wanted to take a look at on film, as a coach you come into the game and there are certain things that you are trying to get out of it,”

Catholic (20-1) opened the game in a fullcourt press, setting the tone early. PCHS forced 31 turnovers and scored 41 points off them. It wasn’t easier for Wahama once it passed the halfcourt line, shooting 30 percent and going 0 for 6 from deep. Madeline Huffman was the game’s leading scorer with 26 points, as well as four steals, three rebounds and one assist.

Catholic held Wahama scoreless and forced nine turnovers during the first five minutes in the first quarter. Leslie Huffman got fouled by Lauren Noble, going one for two, giving Catholic it first points of the game at the 7:23 mark.

Madeline Huffman scored five points off an Aaliyah Brunny and Jenna Boice’s assists. Leslie Huffman picked up the ball after Brunny blocked Hannah Rose, before the two raced down the court, ending with a Brunny layup making it 8-0 Catholic.

Rose finally got Wahama on the board at the 4:55 mark, with four points, two coming from the free-throw line. Despite making it only an eight-point game, Catholic went on an 18-point run in the final four minutes of the first. Madeline Huffman got nine of those points and two steals. Brunny pulled off a nice pass in the paint to Madison Ross the easy basket. Madeline Huffman converted a four-point play off a Noble foul.

Madeline Huffman blocked Rose’s last second 3 making the score 26-6 at the end of the first.

Wahama and Catholic traded points in the opening stages of the second, Rose converted a three-point play and Emma Gibbs chipped in with a basket, while Madeline Huffman, Emma Gardner and Leslie Huffman getting four points from the free-throw line. Catholic continued to fullcourt press forcing Wahama to turn it over 13 times, making the total 22 at halftime. At the 3:38 mark, Catholic stole the ball three times in 15 seconds, resulting in a Madeline Huffman bucket making it 35-12 at 3:19. Catholic was able to capitalize off those first-half turnovers, scoring 31 points in the half.

Leslie Huffman made a last-second shot, giving Catholic the lead going into half 44-14.

Catholic may have stopped fullcourt pressing, but they were still going after it on the offensive end, quickly going on a 9-0 run in the first three minutes after the break. Ross converted a three-point play off a Madeline Huffman assist. Wahama was able to get a little monument with a Gibbs basket and Rose picking Brunny’s pocket, but was unable to capitalize on it due to Boice taking a Tori VanMeter charge.

“It’s just not in a pressing situation, I think we are really good defensively in the halfcourt and I’m tough to please,” coach Vierheller added. “When we can get after it defensively without feeling as though I’ve got to get every steal, the girls are really fine-tuning what they have done well all year and I still think and I hope our best basketball is still to come, we are playing pretty well.”

Rounding out for Catholic was Brunny finishing with 14 points and six steals, Leslie Huffman with 12 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. Ross scored nine points coming off the bench.

“That’s what makes us hard to defend because we have a lot of weapons and that’s how we like it. The kids don’t care who scores, they could not care less, they just want to win. It makes my job easy in that regard,” coach Vierheller said.

Gibbs’ 14 points paced the 9-13 White Falcons.

When Parkersburg South’s 106-pound wrestler Samantha Miller locks up with Riverside’s Josh Slack Thursday in ...

Damon Dash Opens Up About Incredible 'Love' With Aaliyah in 'Growing Up Hip Hop' Sneak Peek (Exclusive)

Aaliyah's death still affects her former boyfriend, Damon Dash, to this day. 

The Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder was in a serious relationship with Aaliyah before her tragic death in a plane crash in the Bahamas in 2001. Dash opens up about his connection to Aaliyah on Thursday's episode of Growing Up Hip Hop, and only ET has an exclusive clip. 

"The type of love that I had with Aaliyah, I didn't think I was going to be able to find with anybody else," Dash, who is currently dating Raquel Horn, says in the clip. "It was that kind of like, we friends, and I never thought I'd be able to find someone that cool." 

Horn says that Aaliyah remains an active part of her relationship with Dash, while his son, Dame "Boogie" Dash, recalls the devastation his father felt following Aaliyah's death. 

"I believe I was around my preteen years when Aaliyah and my father were together. Aaliyah, she just liked to have a lot of fun. She was like a big kid," he shares. "I still remember the day when Aaliyah died. I wasn't with my father at the time. My cousins and I heard it, it was like 10 of us, we're just all crying down the line. And then I saw my dad the following day, and he was just devastated."

"I actually never saw him that low. I feel like, emotionally, he had hit rock bottom. It was probably one of the worst days we ever had," Boogie adds. 

Watch the full clip in the video player above. 

Dash opened up more about Aaliyah last month, amid the release of Lifetime's Surviving R. Kelly. Aaliyah had a relationship with the producer when she was underage, and according to Dash, it was so painful to look back on that the young singer couldn't even discuss it. Kelly has denied all allegations of abuse. 

“I watched some of it yesterday, as much as I could tolerate,” Dash told Kenyatta “the Hip-Hop Motivator." “And I’m not gonna lie, as a human I was tight. I was tight about a couple of things. Number one, there was a girl that was trying to talk about it and couldn’t. And I remember Aaliyah trying to talk about it and she couldn’t. She just would leave it at ‘that dude was a bad man.’”

“And I didn’t really wanna know what he did to the extent that I might feel the need… to deal with it. Just ‘cause that’s what a man does," he added. "But it just was so much hurt for her to revisit it. It was like, ‘I wouldn’t even wanna revisit it without a professional.’ Whatever got done was terrible.”

Growing Up Hip Hop airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on WE tv.

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From The Vault: Aaliyah – ‘More Than A Woman’

Today, we salute an R&B angel whose star continues to shine ever brighter as time goes by.

This week’s From The Vault is Aaliyah’s ‘More Than A Woman.’

Join us after the jump…

Helmed by Timbaland and the late Static Major, ‘Woman’ was issued as the second single from the artist’s eponymous third and final album.

It was released posthumously and commercially was a moderate hit, peaking at #1 in the UK and #25 in both the US and France.

Though it was formally released following her shocking death, the singer performed the song twice during her album promo run in he Summer of 2001.

A contemporary take on the “I’m Every Woman” theme, the track remains one of the icon’s most celebrated.

One of the key components of its enduring popularity is the song’s vibrant video.

The MTV-ready affair was helmed by the great Dave Meyers and showcased Aaliyah dancing dynamically inside a motorcycle and fuelling the automobile with the power of her syncopated choreography.

Did You Know?: Producer and DJ extraordinaire Mark Ronson makes a cameo alongside then-girlfriend Rashida Jones in the second half of the visual.

Released in January 2002, only a few months after her tragic passing in August of the year before, ‘Woman’ became an instant favorite on music channel countdowns and serves as one of the most revered offerings from a talent who departed too soon.

**********

It’s somewhat fruitless rehashing the debate of what could or would have happened had her fate been different. What we will say is we love how “baby girl” has remained an inspiration for a lengthy list of artists – even outside the Urban arena.

A fact which goes to show that a true talent never ever fades.

Aaliyah, we salute you. Eternally.