CHARLESTON — A victory at No. 2 doubles by senior Lakin Whitlatch and junior teammate Goldie Preston sealed Parkersburg High School’s first girls tennis crown since 2005 as the Big Reds dethroned two-time Class AAA state champion George Washington here Saturday at the Kanawha City Community Center courts on the final day of the West Virginia state tournament.

Whitlatch and Preston were the final match to hit the court and the importance of it was obvious. Lose and the GW Patriots taste victory yet again, or finish on top and win the second tiebreaker after squaring the team score at 13-13.

As was the case, the PHS duo dumped Sarah Cummings and Allie Steel of Huntington in straight sets — 7-5 and 6-3 — to tie the final team score at 13.

However, since both teams had three champions on Saturday, the tiebreaker went to the second criteria and that’s where the red and white captured glory. GW only had the three finalists while PHS had four.