INSTITUTE — Thursday afternoon’s contest was an important one for both Parkersburg South and Huntington.

Both teams are trying to gain momentum heading into the final stretch while also trying to get an advantage over one another for regional seeding.

Parkersburg South went down one, 34-33, with 7:21 remaining in the final quarter after Huntington’s Samya Cunningham drilled a three-pointer.

However, the Patriots responded in a might way by out-scoring the Highlanders, 14-8, following the Cunningham triple to win a huge regional seeding game, 47-42.

Parkersburg South’s Reagan Shockey and Emilee Owens were the lone double-figure scorers for the Patriots, combining for 35 of the team’s 47 points.

“We had talked about the regional seeding earlier in the week,” South coach Ed Davis said. “We had to play against a really good Wayne team last night. We focused on that, but we knew that it was still there. We probably need to win a game or two more between now and the ballots.

“This was a nice win and it’s always a battle when we play Huntington.”

The loss drops Huntington to 3-15 on the season.

The Highlanders have now lost four straight.

“It’s always a battle when we play Parkersburg South,” veteran Huntington coach Lonnie Lucas said. “That game could have went one way or another. They played better than we did tonight. They beat us to every 50-50 ball. They didn’t have a big lineup but still out-rebounded us.”

Huntington took a 25-22 advantage at halftime after shooting 36% from the floor in the opening 16 minutes of play.

The Highlanders out-scored the Patriots, 17-9, in the second quarter, including finishing the first half by scoring eight of the final 10 minutes in the final three minutes.

Parkersburg South went on to use a huge second half, 25-17, to get past Huntington.

“We just went over some adjustments against what they were doing in the press,” Davis said. “The kids did a better job of that early on. That was important for us tonight. We got out of our press in the second quarter. That’s not their fault. I should have stayed in it. I thought we were getting a little tired.

“When we went back in it, they responded with energy and effort that you have to play in a press with. We were better in transition as well.”

Huntington was led by a 23 point effort from Lala Sloan.

Sloan shot 9 of 16 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the charity stripe. She corralled five rebounds and had three steals.

“If it gets in her hands then we’re in good shape,” Lucas said.

Parkersburg South used a 10-0 run in the first quarter to jump out to a quick 11-point advantage, 13-2.

Shockey and Farrah Yost combined for eight of the 10 points of the run while the other two came from Tae Richards.

A 6-0 Huntington run closed the Patriots lead from 10 to five, 13-8, after one quarter.

The Highlanders intensity picked up their offensive productivity, leading to a 7-0 run midway through the second quarter, which tied the game at 17.

Sloan contributed five of the seven points. She finished the first half with 14 points with 10 coming in the second quarter.

An Owens triple gave Parkersburg South the lead again before Sloan quickly scored five-points to give the Highlanders their first lead of the game, 22-20.

Owens finished the game with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting, including connecting on four of her seven attempts from long distance.

Shockey netted two free throws to tie the game once more, 22-22. However, an Alysia Smith three-pointer with 28 seconds left gave Huntington a 25-22 advantage after two quarters.

Huntington’s lead stretched as high as five, 31-26, with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter following a Jayda Garrett layup.

The Patriots regained the lead to end the third after a 7-0 run with Owen, Shockey and Richards all contributing.

Shockey finished with a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. Ten of her 12 rebounds came on the offensive glass. She also drew seven fouls in the victory.

“She’s a joy to coach,” Davis said. “She plays with that exact effort every day. It would have been hard without her today. She’s also a strong leader for us. We see it every day, and she got rewarded with her play today.”

Parkersburg South went into the final quarter ahead, 33-31.

The Patriots used an early 6-0 run to regain the lead and stretch their advantage to five, 39-34.

Back-to-back buckets from the Highlanders got them back within one, 39-38. However, that’s the closest they’d get the rest of the game.