Parkersburg's Lucie Cline goes up for a jumper during the Big Reds' 81-25 victory Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG — Kennedy Porter and Frances Guice each collected a double-double here Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Fieldhouse as third-ranked Class AAAA Parkersburg raced past Jefferson, 81-25.

Porter, who finished with game-highs of 23 points and 23 rebounds, had 14 markers and as many caroms at intermission as the Cougars of first-year head coach Jackie Haught trailed 37-12.

Guice, who had eight points and 10 boards at the break, finished with 16 counters and a baker’s dozen rebounds. Eden DeBord nearly double-doubled off the bench going for eight points and 10 rebounds. Lucie Cline, who like DeBord had a pair of blocks, also pitched in a dozen markers and seven rebounds. Big Red point guard Laura Flanagan had nine points to go with game-highs of six assists and four steals.

“Credit to Jefferson. They are doing a home and home with us. I watched their film with their game against Millbrook and I told their coach that I think she’s doing a really good job,” said PHS head man Chris Murray, who watched Porter score the first five buckets of the game as the hosts jumped in front 11-0 before Kendall Vickers hit a 3 for part of her team-high 10 points. “We have a pretty good situation where we’ve been relatively successful for several years and she’s taking over a two-win team.

“I thought their culture on and off the bench with their coach was really good. I think that’s a testament to what she’s trying to do and I give her a lot of credit. This is a tough game for them to play. They are undersized and whoever we put in underneath is going to get a board. Credit to them. I thought, obviously, I would’ve liked our execution to be better at the line (10 of 21). I don’t even really mind the missed layups because sometimes it’s just natural. Your defense has got to travel and so far through three games I think we’re getting better there.”

Jefferson's Kameryn Sampson looks for a teammate as Parkersburg's Kennedy Porter, who had game-highs of 23 points and 23 rebounds, defends during the Big Reds' 81-25 victory Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Following the trifecta by Vickers, Cline immediately answered with a three-point play and then Guice hit from downtown to make it 17-3. JHS got a foul shot apiece from Hannah Bishop and Lily DeMeritt, but trailed 19-5 after one as DeBord scored inside thanks to one of Kenslee Lemasters’ four dimes.

“I was hired at the end of April,” said coach Haught, whose 0-4 squad returns to action on Monday, Jan. 5 at University. “I think the best way to grow a program is to play really good teams and that’s exactly what we’ve done with our schedule so far. We’ve played two championship teams out of Maryland. We’ve played a team out of Virginia and of course we played Parkersburg tonight. They are a very good program. A very good team.

“We learned a lot tonight about our team that we’re going to take back to the Eastern Panhandle with us and I’m sure down the road when we see Parkersburg again I’m hoping our growth is even more than game number four, but I told the girls we didn’t come four and half hours away to play a team that was bad. That was the goal. To get in front of a really good team and to make some growth.”

Although Flanagan’s floater in the lane to open the second half was answered by a Kameryn Sampson 10-foot jumper via a Taylor Allen assist, the Big Reds upped their lead to 30 for the first time at 44-14 following a Guice triple and two charity stripe conversions from Cline.

Porter then followed with a three-point play and the Big Reds pushed the advantage out to 58-20 by ending the third with a Gracie Lively bucket.

Parkersburg's Frances Guice drives toward the lane while being guarded by Jefferson's Hannah Bishop during the Big Reds' 81-25 victory Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I thought coming in and playing the number three team in the state we were going to hit some adversity and what we were going to look like after that? There was no sulking,” stressed coach Haught. “There was no hanging our heads low.

“Those are the things I can’t coach them that they need to have from the heart. It makes my job a whole lot easier when I don’t need to pull that out of them. Of course, Xs and Os-wise, I mean Parkersburg was incredibly efficient tonight. All 10 of us fought like heck.”

PHS, which watched Jefferson convert just 7 of 16 from the free-throw line, had advantages of 68-28 on the glass and 19-5 in turnovers.

The two teams combined to go 9 of 50 from beyond the arc with each squad attempting 25 and the Big Reds making five. Overall, the red and white shot 40.2% (33 of 82) while the Cougars shot 15.9% (7 of 44).

PHS will eye a 4-0 start to the campaign when it takes on Riverside (S.C.) at 6 p.m. next Saturday in the Carolina Invitational.

Parkersburg's Lilli Martinez attempts to deflect a pass by Jefferson's Dani Weaver during the Big Reds' 81-25 victory Saturday afternoon inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We still have so much work to do,” admitted Murray, whose squad leaves for the beach the day after Christmas. “You got to really keep that mindset in while you are doing this on what you are trying to do and what you are trying to work on and trying to fix. Jefferson is obviously on a different path right now trying to get their improvement and same with us. We’re looking down the schedule.

“Where do we got to get better against teams like Morgantown and Parkersburg South and when we go to the beach and play teams in Charleston, South Carolina? We know we got to get ready for those guys, too. We play the 5A state runners-up in the second game. We have to be ready to go. We kind of look at these games as opportunities to get better and work on things we got to work on because we know what we got coming down the pipeline. We got to play high-level basketball.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com