Breaking News
Local Sports

PHS shows off depth in 71-24 win over South Charleston

By Kerry Patrick 5 min read

PARKERSBURG - Following a five-day layoff and rash of sickness affecting personnel, the Parkersburg girls basketball team got its sea legs back in a major way on Thursday night.

The Big Reds knocked down their first three shot attempts in the first minute against South Charleston and created enough chaos with their full-court pressure that the PHS coaching staff pulled the defense back into a half-court set after scoring the game's first 12 points.

At one juncture late in the first half, the margin reached 34 points at 41-7.

The second half was primarily devoted to the reserves as PHS defeated the South Charleston 71-24 to open a stretch of five games over a nine-day span.

"Tonight was a good opportunity to play some depth," PHS coach Chris Murray said after his ballclub improved to 8-3 and 3-1 in the Mountain State Athletic League.

PHS post player Kennedy Porter led all scorers with 18 points, while Frances Guice finished with 13 points. Among those contributing in the scoring column off the Big Red bench were Ellie Kinnison with 10 points and Faith Butcher with seven points. Both Kinnison and Butcher made a pair of 3-pointers as PHS finished with eight overall.

Unavailable due to illness was PHS starter Sophie Lott.

"We've just had such an up-and-down in terms of practice and health," Murray said. "Obviously, there was a week where we didn't get to practice because of the weather then we had Kennedy sick with the flu and now Sophie has been sick. We've had girls for the last two weeks who have been in and out - it's the team bug.

"But it's part of the game. Our mindset is go next man and get the next kid ready to go, and ready to play."

The PHS bus was scheduled to depart for Winchester, Ohio, around 7 a.m. to play Mason County (Ky.) in a winter classic at Eastern Brown High School. Mason County enters the 11:15 a.m. contest with a 9-4 record and ranked sixth in its region.

"We're in the middle of a grind," Murray said. "I've watched a few of their games and they look pretty good. We will be OK with the early start. We have the right kids for it."

Some of the top 3-point shooters will be featured with Medina, Flanagan and Guice from PHS hooking up with Mason County's Amirah Reed and Olivia Hughes. The two Mason County girls rank in the top 11 in their region for 3-point shooting percentage.

Reed leads the team in scoring (15.4) and assists (4.0), while multi-dimensional Lexi Young averages 12.3 points and ranks third in their region in field-goal shooting (56.0%).

With games scheduled next week against Wheeling Park, Capital and George Washington, PHS also has Hurricane waiting in the wings for a make-up game at home on Feb. 3. The Redskins entered Thursday atop the MSAC standings at 5-0.

The South Charleston win marked the halfway mark in terms of regular season games high school teams are allowed to schedule.

"I love this group, I love last year's group - they feel like my kids and the way that we play," Murray said. "We always played hard and I don't think we get rattled. It's a team that has high high expectations."

Against PHS on Thursday, bad karma followed South Charleston from the outset. The Black Eagles' bus was late in arriving and the girls didn't start their warm-ups until 15 minutes remaining until the opening tip.

South Charleston turned the ball over nine times in the opening period and didn't score its first points until the 4:51 mark on a 3-pointer from Zianna Carter.

Two straight buckets inside from Porter started another lengthy run of 11 straight points to extend the lead to 23-3. Consecutive 3-pointers from Kinnison and Flanagan put the finishing touches on a 10-0 spurt which gave the Big Reds a rather comfortable 33-5 cushion with five minutes still remaining before halftime.

Leading 43-11 at the break, Porter went to work once in the paint once again and added a pair of buckets. Guice's two-pointer off a feed from Medina finished off a 6-0 mini-run that earned the starters the rest of the night off with the Big Reds enjoying a 48-11 advantage.

Carter led South Charleston (5-6, 1-5 MSAC) with eight points.

"In our last game to Morgantown, the girls were upset because they put a lot of effort into it," Murray said. "For them, it's like they have to go and get the next one. It's like when I coach my 9-year-old son, and it goes for the girls, too. Regardless of the outcome, they are like 'are we going to get something to eat something after?' We lose to Morgantown and we got out to eat and the girls are not even thinking about the loss.

"A lot of it is about the fellowship and being around each other. It's like feeding my kid ice cream after a game. As long as they are fed, they are pretty happy."

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

Starting at /week.