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Patriot boys improve to 7-0 with win over John Marshall

PARKERSBURG-When John Marshall’s Tyler Mason tallied an inside bucket to pull the visiting Monarchs to within 11-8 with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter, Parkersburg South head coach Mike Fallon did something he hadn’t done all season.

“I called timeout because I wanted to get on our guys,” said the Patriots’ boss. “We weren’t playing with any focus and I wanted to get our focus back right now.”

The strategy worked to perfection as the Monarchs did not score again until the 4:12 mark of the second quarter while the Patriots rattled off 21 straight points to take a 32-8 lead en route to an 89-36 victory Saturday night at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center.

“Once we got our focus back we played much better,” added Fallon. “Our defense picked up and our defense accounted for a lot of our points during that run.”

Defense is right.

John Marshall, now 2-4 on the season, was limited to 3-of-10 shooting in the second quarter and only 7-of-22 for the half as Parkersburg South raced out to a 31-point, 47-16, advantage at the intermission. Even more impressive was the fact that the Patriots committed just one turnover in the first 16 minutes of action while forcing the Monarchs into 25 miscues in the game.

“I wasn’t worried about out legs,” said Fallon. “We are in pretty good shape and we do a lot of rotating of players, so playing back-to-back nights really didn’t bother us. It was the lack of focus that concerned us tonight and we addressed that during that first timeout.”

Leading by only three, 11-8, Tyler Berry hit an inside bucket to ignite a 7-0 run over the final 1:51 of the opening quarter. Logan Lawrentz, who led all scorers with 19, added a trey and Ty Dobson a deuce as South went to the benches holding an 18-8 lead after the first eight minutes of action.

Dobson opened the second quarter with the first of his two triples as the Patriots tallied the first 14 points of the period before a Tanner Filben bucket slowed down the bleeding at the 4:12 mark.

Slowed it down, but did not stop it as a steal and lay-in by Lawrentz sent the hosts on a 13-6 spurt over the final four minutes to account for the 47-16 halftime margin. The score would get no closer as Parkersburg South, which returns to action on Tuesday at University, had 12 players that reached the court score with reserves Garrett Gilkeson, Tristan Stone and Tyler Shelton chipping in nine points apiece while Dobson and reserve Alex Simon added eight each.

John Marshall received 10 points from Filben, seven from Ronnie Brown and six from Josh Smith, but it would not be enough.

Williamstown 72,

Tyler Consolidated 46

WILLIAMSTOWN -Williamstown’s boys basketball team won for the fifth time in six outings here Saturday in handing visiting Tyler Consolidated a 72-46 setback thanks to the second straight 23-point effort of sophomore Brandon Travis, who led all scorers.

Gage Wix added 17 and Chandler Weber 16 for coach Scott Sauro’s Yellowjackets.

Freshman Jace Reed led Tyler with 14 points.

The Yellowjackets return to action on Monday, when Williamstown will play host to Wood County Christian in a girls/boys doubleheader beginning at 6 p.m.

Tyler Consolidated will entertain Ravenswood on Wednesday.

Huntington St. Joe 62,

Parkersburg Catholic 57

HUNTINGTON – Parkersburg Catholic was on the verge of pulling off a stunning upset here Saturday night, but top-ranked Huntington St. Joe rallied in the final minutes to stay undefeated (8-0) with a 62-57 win over the game Crusaders.

Catholic (5-3) led 42-38 heading into the final eight minutes before St. Joe took over down the stretch.

PC was led by Joe Padden with 20 points and Ben Collie with 17.

St. Joe got 20 points from Brian Conaty and 15 from Keith Clemons.

Catholic travels to St. Marys on Tuesday.

Gilmer County 83,

Wirt County 71

ELIZABETH – Austin Ratliff and Austin Cunningham scored 19 points apiece while Zach Chapman and Colby Cunningham finished with 15 points each as Gilmer County improved to 5-1 here Saturday night following an 83-71 road win against Wirt County.

The 1-6 Tigers, who are off until Tuesday, Jan. 14 at Tyler Consolidated, got a game-high 24 points from Dustin Garner. Tiger Mark Cunningham had 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

GIRLS

Parkersburg South 54, Ironton 51

ASHLAND, Ohio – Ironton’s Lexie Barrier poured in a game-high 29 points here Saturday afternoon in the Ashland Classic, but the Tigers hit just 10 of 24 foul shots as Parkersburg South managed to improve to 7-0 after securing a 54-51 victory.

The Patriots, who play Tuesday at Morgantown, was led by Taryn McCutcheon’s 18 points and nine rebounds.

Katelyn Byrd chipped in 14 points, Keya Bartlett had 10 and Carly Wilson grabbed 11 boards in the victory.

Belpre 55, Caldwell 49

CALDWELL – Lexy Schell’s high-point effort of 23 wasn’t quite enough for host Caldwell on Saturday night as the Redskins were tripped up by Belpre, 55-49.

The 8-2 Golden Eagles were keyed to victory by a 17-10 second quarter. Sierra Barker led Belpre with 16 points while Katelyn Hughes and Lexus cunningham contributed 11 markers apiece.

Megan DeVol had 16 points for the 1-12 Redskins.

St. Marys 71, Ravenswood 58

RAVENSWOOD – St. Marys had four players crack double figures during its 71-58 Little Kanawha Conference North Division road win Saturday night at Ravenswood.

Kendra Walker led the winners with 21 points. Jordan Fox had 14 points, Ashley Hall a dozen and Tari Ashworth 10.

Hailey Miller paced the Red Devils with 21 points and nine rebounds. Taylor Treadway finished with nine points and eight boards for the hosts.

PREP SWIMMING

PHS Sweeps

Clarksburg Meet

CLARKSBURG – Parkersburg High swept the Clarksburg Rotary Holiday Invitational Swim Meet here on Saturday.

The Big Red girls dominated the field, amassing 334.5 points to 236 for runner-up Bridgeport. Meanwhile, the PHS boys nipped Fairmont Senior, 250 to 245 in the 12-team meet.

Winning events for the PHS girls were Tara Foster (50 freestyle), Hannah Wareheim (100 breaststroke), and a pair of relay teams. Lexi Haislop and Sarah Snider teamed with Wareheim and Foster to win the 200 medley relay while Jen Standley and Clair Collett joined Wareheim and Foster in the 200 freestyle relay.

In the boys competition, Big Red Sean Snider continued his season-long domination, winning the 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. He also joined Preston Padden, Jack Terosky and Nic Cheuvront on the winning 200 freestyle relay team that set a new meet record, finishing in 1 minute, 33.67 seconds. Snider, Padden, Cheuvront and Stevie Cottrell finished second in the 400 freestyle relay while Padden won the 500 freestyle and was second in the 200 IM. Cottrell placed second in the 100 breaststroke.

The Big Reds will participate in the Buckhannon Splash invitational next Saturday.

COLLEGE WRESTLING

WVU beats

Lock Haven, 18-12

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University wrestling team opened its 2014 home schedule with its sixth consecutive win, defeating Lock Haven, 18-12.

“It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but we will take it,” said coach Craig Turnbull. “We have some things that we will work on, and we know that we can wrestle better. We were able to gain the momentum we needed though to get the win.”

Tied 12-12, freshman Leo Trindade (197) gave WVU a three-point advantage with only one bout to go. Trindade tallied a takedown in the first period, but the Bald Eagles’ Phil Sprenkle scored a reversal to even the bout. Trindade was able to escape and took Sprenkle to the mat on his way to a 9-4 decision.

Sophomore A.J. Vizcarrondo (HWT) sealed the match for the Mountaineers, earning his 16th win of the season. He started the second period on the bottom and earned an escape point midway through. Leading 1-0, Vizcarrondo took Cody Mason to the mat late in the third period for the 3-2 decision.

“Performance is a hard thing to predict in sport, and with this being the first week back from break, I didn’t see the same quality of performances that I did earlier in the year, but we got the win, which is what is important,” Turnbull says.

Senior Colin Johnston (141) put WVU’s first points on the board, beating No. 20 Dan Neff by decision, 12-7. Johnston earned a quick lead, taking Neff to the mat twice in the first minute of the period. Neff knotted the bout at four with a takedown of his own at the 1:48 mark, but Johnston took the lead back late in the second with his 22nd takedown of the season.

After a first period takedown, WVU junior Mike Morales (149) found himself behind 4-1 in the second period after giving up a reversal to Mac Maldrelli. He battled within one though with a reversal of his own, then took his first lead of the bout with a two-point near fall. A pair of third period takedowns by Morales sealed the decision, 11-5.

Junior Brutus Scheffel (157) continued the Mountaineers’ momentum, downing Elias Biddle by decision, 5-4. Scheffel took the lead with his 20th takedown of the year in the first period. A second period reversal and late escape sealed the bout.

With the score deadlocked 9-9, WVU sophomore Bubba Scheffel (174) fell behind early, but rebounded with a reversal to knot the bout at two. A second reversal gave Scheffel his first lead of the match. He wouldn’t look back, scoring a takedown and riding time on the way to a 7-2 decision and his team-leading 24th win of the year.

The Mountaineers return to the mat on Jan. 18 against No. 4 Oklahoma State. The match is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the WVU Coliseum.

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