ONA — Parkersburg’s players came out of the locker room at halftime smiling and even laughing.

There was no indication, other than the scoreboard, they trailed Cabell Midland 36-21 in high school girls basketball Wednesday at the Castle. Maybe the Big Reds knew something no one else did.

Parkersburg, ranked third in Class AAAA, rallied from a 17-point first-half deficit to defeat the No. 10 Knights 65-55 and improve to 8-2. The visitors were behind 14-1 with 4:40 left in the first quarter.

“We had to settle down and just execute,” Big Reds coach Chris Murray said. “You can’t let it overwhelm you. I tell the girls all the time, don’t ride the waves. Just stay floating. Ride it out because it’s going to be OK.”

Murray said he directed his players at halftime to chip away in the second half.

Parkersburg scored the first 11 points of the third quarter. It still trailed 44-35 with 3:04 left in the period but closed on an 11-2 run to tie entering the final eight minutes.

“The girls came out more focused, with much more intensity in the second half,” Murray said. “I’m proud of the girls for locking in and playing harder.”

Kenslee Lemaster swished a 3-pointer off an assist by Laura Flanagan to begin the fourth quarter and put the Big Reds ahead 49-46. They never trailed again and led by 11 points twice.

“I’m not pleased with the loss, but I am pleased with the girls playing hard and getting after it,” Cabell Midland coach Cristina Schmidt said. “We talked about it in the locker room. We accomplished what we wanted for about 21 minutes. If we get to that 27, 28 minutes, we win the game. That’s on us.”

The Knights (7-3) created 13 turnovers, five on steals by Braylon McGuire, in the first half and scored off most. They forced merely two in the second half. Cabell Midland committed six turnovers in the first half and eight in the second.

Parkersburg pounded the ball inside in the second half, creating open shots outside. The Big Reds made them, finishing 20 for 38 (52.6%) for the game. Parkersburg was 8 for 11 (72.7%) on 3-point shots and 17 for 21 (80.9%) from the free throw line.

“We started running through some passing lanes and started talking through those screens a little bit better,” Murray said.

Flanagan scored 19 points, making 9 of 9 free throws, and grabbed six rebounds. Francis Guice scored 17 points and made four steals. Lucie Cline chipped in 12 points and pulled down a team-best seven rebounds.

For Cabell Midland, Sophie Kelly came off the bench to score 21 points and snare eight rebounds. Emma Smith was 4 for 4 from the floor and at the foul line for 12 points. McGuire scored 10.

“They’re a good team,” Schmidt said. “It’s nice to see (her team play well) now because at the end of the day, everybody goes to regions and that’s when we have to get it done.”

Murray complimented Cabell Midland.

“I think they had a good game plan,” Murray said. “They started out and did things right. They didn’t play bad in the second half. We just executed a little bit better and our intensity in the halfcourt went up.”

Parkersburg is back in action at 7 p.m. Friday at Hurricane. Cabell Midland returns to the court at 7 p.m. Tuesday at home against Riverside.