PARKERSBURG -Parkersburg High School outgoaled visiting Cabell Midland 21 to 18 on Friday night at Memorial Fieldhouse. But the Big Reds had four of their starters foul out as Cabell Midland went to the foul line 49 times in a 67-57 victory that left both teams 1-1 on the young season.
Parkersburg -making its home debut after a season-opening road win at Wheeling Park -scored the first five points of the game in the first minute and led 18-12 at the end of the first quarter.
The Big Reds stretched that margin to 26-16 midway through the second quarter and seemed to be dominating the action. But Cabell Midland scored the final 10 points of the half to tie the game at 26 heading to intermission.
Article Photos
Photo by Jeff Baughan
Parkersburg's Trevor Britton, left, grabs a rebound in front of Cabell Midland's Andrew Fraley as teammates Dru Aldridge, 24, and Jourdan Henderson, far right, watch Friday during their game at Memorial Fieldhouse. Cabell Midland won, 67-57.
Parkersburg re-established its dominance in the first four minutes of the third quarter, taking a 33-28 lead. But when PHS lost Trevor Britton and Braeden Cabbil to foul trouble, the Big Red offense went flat and Cabell Midland took a 43-40 lead into the final eight minutes of the game.
Things got worse for PHS. Much worse. The visiting Knights reeled off the first 11 points of the quarter -seven at the free throw line - to take what appeared to be an insurmountable 54-40 lead when Dustin Scarberry sunk a free throw with 3:53 to play. Scarberry led all scorers with 21 points despite making just three field goals as he was 13 of 18 from the foul line.
Parkersburg, playing with a rapidly depleted lineup and watching as its starters fouled out, still managed to make a game of it. Four straight points by Big Red Levi Hayes -who finished with 11 -cut the margin to 58-55 with 1:07 to go and you could feel the excitement in Memorial Fieldhouse in anticipation of a Big Red comeback.
That didn't happen. Cabell Midland made nine free throws in the last 67 seconds to salt away the win. PHS scored just one basket during that stretch, sealing its fate.
Parkersburg was led in scoring by Britton with 18, while Ben Umpleby added 9 for PHS.
In addition to Scarberry, Cabell Midland got 13 from Nile Dailey, 12 from Stephen Matthews and 11 from Dakota Leonard. The Knights had just seven players get into the scoring column.
The crowd that attended the contest saw PHS unveil a new look at Memorial Fieldhouse. All the seating at the floor level has been removed from the gymnasium. The Big Red student section is now located above the basket at the end of the court where there is seating. Indeed, it appeared the wild bunch that fervently cheered on their team had an effect on Cabell Midland's free throw shooting as the Knights missed 20 foul shots, most at that end of the court.
PHS will travel to Huntington next Tuesday while Cabell Midland returns to the Mid-Ohio Valley on Thursday, when it is at Ripley.
