Parkersburg South’s Mo Akita stops dribble penetration by Parkersburg High’s Trinity Balog during Thursday night’s game inside Memorial Fieldhouse. Balog poured in 18 of her career-high 26 points during the first half of the Big Reds’ 54-46 victory. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — It wasn’t easy, but host Parkersburg managed a season sweep of rival Parkersburg South on Thursday night inside Memorial Fieldhouse thanks to a 54-46 victory.

Skylar Bosley’s steal and layup tied the game at 44-all with 5:13 remaining, but first-year Big Red head man Chris Murray watched his team close the affair on a 10-2 run to secure their 11th straight victory as the No. 6 program in Class AAAA improved to 15-4 with a home game tonight versus Riverside.

With starters Kisten Roberts, who had a game-high nine rebounds, and Brilynn Florence in early foul trouble, sophomore Trinity Balog came to the rescue. Balog pumped in 18 of her career-high 26 points in the first half.

“It was basically just like we got to push through with our two starters on the bench,” admitted Balog, who watched Payton Harvey add six points and Riley Hilling three off the bench. “We had to get something from the bench and we just came out and we knew that we had this. We just had to keep pushing.

“The mood at halftime (PHS led 32-29) was we just want to keep pushing. We just had to push through and keep our minds right. We’re playing for each other. We’ve just been working so hard and we’re just ready. We want states. We want to win. That’s our goal.”

Parkersburg South head coach Ed Davis’ squad, which dropped to 8-10 with a home game Saturday night versus Capital, jumped out to an 8-2 lead with the help of consecutive 3s from Gracie Shamblin (13 points) and Hannah Wingrove, who fouled out with eight points. Hayley McCale’s triple gave PHS a 14-13 lead late in the first, but Shamblin scored via a Carley Schaffer assist to give the visitors a 15-14 advantage after one.

The Patriots had their largest lead early in the second at 21-14 following two made foul shots by Mo Akita and one by Carrie Rhodes, who joined Schaffer with seven rebounds. However, Balog connected from deep to start a 16-4 spurt. In that span, Balog added two more 3s and had a putback. Taylor Miller, who had a game-high six steals, also drained a triple via a London Hood inbounds pass. Bosley, who had five steals, beat the buzzer with a jumper inside the foul line to trim the deficit to three at intermission.

“I thought we played hard, but give them the credit,” admitted coach Davis. whose program only trailed 41-40 going to the fourth thanks to back-to-back hoops by Bosley, the last coming via a Grace Sandy dime. “They made plays and hit shots when they needed to.”

Shamblin’s bucket to open the fourth was answered by a Balog 3 before Bosley converted to tie it for the final time at 44. Florence, who finished with nine counters, put the Big Reds ahead for good when she was left open and drilled a trifecta with 3:35 to go.

“Really proud of our defensive effort in the second half and how intense we played,” expressed coach Murray, whose defense limited PHS to 31.4% (16 of 51) shooting for the game and 0 of 7 from downtown after halftime.

“Obviously, Trinity shot well and that momentum swung us. We kept fighting. We didn’t look particularly good, but that’s a credit to South. They had great intensity throughout the game.”

In the first meeting back in mid-December, the host Patriots suffered a 64-58 overtime loss.

“Always fun to win those,” Murray added of getting the season sweep. “I’m proud of our seniors and how they played. They played with such poise and leadership for us. It was a good win for our group. We have had it tough as of late. We didn’t get to practice last week on Thursday or Friday.

“We only could practice for an hour on Saturday then we hit the road at Ripley and at West Virginia State. To turn around and practice for an hour yesterday to prepare for this game, to me that shows where our toughness and mental mindset is. It’s on to the next one.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com