WILLIAMSTOWN, W.Va. — One thing is for certain for next week’s Class AA field at the West Virginia High School Girls State Tournament in Charleston: At the minimum, one team approaches the game with the mentality that defense comes first.

Thursday night in a Class AA, Region I semifinal, Williamstown advanced to the state tournament after a one-year hiatus by defeating Oak Glen 71-39.

The Yellowjackets (19-3) earned the No. 2 seed and will meet No. 7 Philip Barbour (16-8) in a Wednesday quarterfinal matchup. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

“We’re a defensive-minded team and the one thing we can control is play hard, play with energy,” Williamstown coach Danny Bunch said. “We put pressure on the basketball and usually the offensive side of the ball takes care of itself.”

In the first meeting with Oak Glen in late December, the Golden Bears trailed big from the start in a 51-18 defeat. Right out of the gate on Thursday, Oak Glen gave Williamstown its best shot.

In the first two minutes of the game, the Golden Bears led 5-3 thanks to a 3-pointer from Ella Stewart and a Haley Stewart putback.

Williamstown junior point guard Quinn Bunch buried a pair of 3-pointers to put her club in front to stay at 13-7. For the game, Bunch made four threes and scored a team-high 16 points.

“We knew Oak Glen had gotten better and they had some pretty close games, so we knew we had to show up because any team can win on any given night,” Quinn Bunch said.

After a break in the action allowed Yellowjacket reserve Makaela Bandy to check into the game for the first time, she became an immediate difference-maker.

Bandy registered the first of three steals in the final three minutes of the period and converted the layup to extend the lead to 15-5.

Her second steal resulted in an assist on a made bucket by Burt, and the two hooked up in similar fashion again on Williamstown’s next possession.

“I don’t really know how I was doing it — just quick feet, I guess,” Bandy said. “Our whole team settled down. Our bench also does a great job at providing a good spark for our team. When we get off to a slow start, that bench really helps get our momentum going.”

“After I went in, I felt like we started making better passes and really just kept working our offense — it created a lot of open shots and more opportunities.”

On her third steal, Bandy took matters into her own hands and scored yet again to put Williamstown in front 24-9. Bandy finished the game with 10 points and five assists.

“I love Mac,” said Williamstown senior Anna Cosner. “Her energy on the floor, no matter where she is … it’s just amazing to have that spark in a person that comes off the bench and gets us all going.”

Williamstown, which forced nine turnovers in the first quarter, allowed the offense to do some damage as Gracie Montgomery’s three followed by a pair of buckets from Burt ignited a 9-0 run to open the second quarter. Montgomery’s 11 points gave the Yellowjackets four double figure scorers in the contest.

“The message coming into tonight was to not think too much about the other team, rather think about what we can do as a team and what we can do to work together and just be better as a team,” said Burt, who finished the game with 14 points.

Haley Stewart and Balch stopped the momentum temporarily with one basket apiece, but Williamstown went right back to work as Maggie Frye and Alia Phelps each contributed four points to an 11-0 flurry which left the Golden Bears trailing 44-13.

“Before tonight, we haven’t played a basketball game for almost two weeks,” coach Bunch said. “Our last game was against Wayne, which was probably one of our best games we played all season. So I was a little concerned about that coming in.

“The main thing I told the girls was just keep playing. We expect it to be a little slow starting out, a little rusty so shots may not fall.

“When Mac comes in, she brings so much energy onto the court. I told one of my assistant coaches, put Mac in the game. We need some energy. Something is going to happen when she is on the court. Sometimes it may not be good for us, but most of the time it is.

“Something you don’t want to take out of the girl is her grit. She hustles and is so daggone fast.”

Coming out of halftime, coach Bunch tested a few ideas on matchups and Oak Glen was able to take advantage with four 3-pointers from Ella Stewart, who finished with a team-high 16 points.

Balch accounted for four of her 10 points as Oak Glen outscored Williamstown 16-13 in the third quarter. The Golden Bears, however, could not make enough of a dent as the Yellowjackets utilized their bench throughout the latter part of the second half.

Class AA Region I Semifinal

At Williamstown High School

Williamstown 71, Oak Glen 39

Oak Glen 9 6 16 8 – 39

WHS 24 20 13 14 – 71

OAK GLEN (13-11)

Emma Everett 0 0-0 0, Mikalyn Balch 5 0-0 10, Keira Vick 0 0-0 0, Haley Stewart 4 4-6 12, Ella Stewart 5 1-2 16, Addyson Wells 0 0-0 0, Angelina Polly 0 0-0 0, Audrina May 0 1-2 1, Sophia Mascio 0 0-0 0, Elynn Rogers 0 0-0 0, Darias Price 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 14 6-10 39. 3-point goals: 5 (E. Stewart 5)

WILLIAMSTOWN (19-3)

Makaela Bandy 5 0-0 10, Quinn Bunch 5 2-2 16, Anna Cosner 0 1-4 1, Gracie Montgomery 4 0-0 11, Maggie Frye 2 5-6 9, Arissa Burt 6 2-4 14, Addison Woodburn 0 0-0 0, Alia Phelps 3 0-0 6, Chloe Mulligan 2 0-0 4, Reese Boone 0 0-0 0, Maggie Johnson 0 0-0 0, Aleena Johnson 0 0-0 0, Kaylee Rafferty 0 0-0 0, Peyton Woodburn 0 0-0 0. TOTALS 27 10-16 71. 3-point goals: 7 (Bunch 4, Montgomery 3)