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PHS girls stay unbeaten

Big Reds takes down Wheeling Park, 63-31

Photo by Joe Albright Parkersburg High’s Bre Wilson scores on a layup in her first regular-season game action in nine months during the top-ranked Big Reds’ 63-31 win over second-ranked Wheeling Park Thursday night inside PHS Memorial Fieldhouse. Wilson tallied 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and three fouls on the evening.

PARKERSBURG — The number one ranked Parkersburg Big Reds (7-0) left no doubt as to which team is the best in the state Thursday.

The hometown fans went home happy, as it was a wire-to-wire drubbing of number two Wheeling Park (6-2) with a score of 63-31. Junior Aleea Crites led all scorers in this marquee matchup with 18, and senior Shay Kirby followed closely behind with 14 of her own. A commanding start wasn’t enough for the Big Reds, as they turned up their intensity in the second half. They only allowed 14 points in half number two, and PHS coach Scott Cozzens attributed that razor sharp effort to a true team effort.

“It all comes down to a little attention to detail,” Cozzens said. “We talked about it at halftime. They had 17 points (at the half), and we let their two best players get wide open looks. They scored nine of that 17, and I assured them at half time that if that happened in the second half, that other people would be seeing more minutes than they were. Sometimes, you can tell kids, but in the end, they’re 14, 15, 16 years old. They’ve got to understand that, in a different situation where they leave a shooter open could cost them the game. It’s attention to detail that we’ve got to see. If we cut the head of the snake off, so to speak, they’d have trouble scoring against us.”

Wheeling Park’s Patriots felt that pinch, as they recorded their first point of the half with 4:41 remaining in the third quarter. Their failure to adjust was on display, as four of the team’s six points were scored by sophomore Bella Abernathy. Their first field goal of the half came courtesy of Abernathy with 24.7 seconds remaining in that period. Patriots coach Ryan Young felt that his team was struggling to get going early in the night, and that ended up being a central theme in this lopsided contest.

“Yeah, (we felt it) probably before the third quarter, but the third quarter didn’t help,” Young said. “Just one of them games you feel like you are caught in a nightmare and just want it to end, but we will learn from this game. We will watch film and figure out how to correct this. The bottom line is that it doesn’t matter if you lose by 30 or by two. The loss is a loss afterwards, so we have plenty of time to get better. I know we will.”

In junior Bre Wilson’s return from injury, she tallied 12 points and four rebounds. She joined Crites and Kirby in double figures, and the Big Reds’ balanced attack was too much for Wheeling Park to overcome.

Abernathy led her team in scoring with 11 of Wheeling Park’s 31, as scoring was limited for the Patriots. They will have until Jan. 3 to exorcise their demons, when they return home to play Morgantown. On the flip side, the Big Reds will look to continue their hot start at home against Huntington on Saturday night.

Parkersburg 63, Wheeling Park 31

Wheeling Park 8 9 6 8 — 31

Parkersburg 18 15 16 14 — 63

WHEELING PARK (6-2)

Shanley Woods 2 0-0 5, Emily Pavlic 3 0-0 8, Abby Snedeker 0 0-0 0, Kieran Johnson 3 0-2 6, Bella Abernathy 3 5-9 11, Lindsey Garrison 0 0-0 0, NeVaeh Cook 0 0-0 0, Abby Jones 0 0-2 0, Kelsey Chacalos 0 0-0 0, Niya Cook 0 1-2 1, Maggie Stakem 0 0-0 0; TOTALS: 11 6-15 31; 3-point goals: Pavlic 2, Woods 1

PARKERSBURG (7-0)

Maddi Leggett 3 0-0 6, Aleea Crites 7 4-6 18, Shay-Lee Kirby 6 0-0 14, Tavien Clark 0 0-2 0, Bre Wilson 5 0-0 12, Kristen Lowers 0 0-2 0, Meredith Martin 1 0-0 3, Haley McCale 0 0-0 0, Mya Barrett 1 0-0 3, Emily Kupfner 1 0-0 2, Anna Umpleby 0 0-2 0, Maggie Richards 2 1-2 5; TOTALS: 26 5-14 63; 3-point goals: Kirby 2, Wilson 2, Martin 1, Barrett 1

JV score: WP 38, PHS 37

JV scoring: WP: Maggie Stakem 18, Sarah Hammerquist 6, Zariah Manning 5, Jailah Walker 4, Daisy Reasbeck 2, Hollee Armstrong 2, Maya Taggart 1; PHS: 8, Beyonce Pierce 8, Umpleby 6, McCale 4, Emma Schumacher 4, Barrett 3, Martin 2, Kupfner 2

Next games: Huntington at Parkersburg on Saturday; Morgantown at Wheeling Park on Jan. 3.

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