Williamstown’s Maggie Frye gets ready to shoot a free throw during a game against St. Marys last week. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG — The West Virginia Schools Athletic Coaches Association has released its latest high school basketball rankings, and area teams are well represented, especially on the girls side.

In Class A, four of the top five teams are from the Parkersburg News and Sentinel coverage area, led by No. 1 Gilmer County.

The Titans bounced back from their only loss of the season — a 42-39 decision vs. No. 2 Tug Valley on Jan. 17 — with three wins last week. Gilmer bested Wahama, Calhoun County and Wirt County (which is tied for 8th in single-A) to improve to 10-1.

Gilmer and Tug are followed by No. 3 Parkersburg Catholic, No. 4 St. Marys and No. 5 Ritchie County.

The Crusaderettes were handed a pair of setbacks against Fort Frye and Gilmer two weeks ago, but responded with wins over Webster County and Wahama last week. Catholic is now 11-3.

The Blue Devils are 9-4, falling to Williamstown last Tuesday before beating Ritchie on Thursday. St. Marys has now lost twice to the Yellowjackets (No. 2 in double-A) and swept the Rebels, who are now 10-3. All three of Ritchie’s losses are to top-five teams (two to SMHS and one to Catholic).

Arguably the biggest result of the last week was Williamstown’s 50-36 victory over Wheeling Central on Saturday. The No. 2 Yellowjackets swapped places with the No. 3 Maroon Knights but are still behind top-ranked James Monroe in double-A. Williamstown also had quality wins over Doddridge County and St. Marys to improve to 12-2.

While George Washington is the clear-cut No. 1 in quad-A, Parkersburg South and Parkersburg come in at second and third, respectively.

PSHS shook off a 65-45 loss to top-ranked GW last Tuesday by defeating the Big Reds 60-54 on Thursday. The Patriots completed the sweep of their rivals to improve to 9-2.

PHS is now 9-3, with two of the losses coming to South. However, the Big Reds have quality wins over No. 4 Morgantown and No. 8 Cabell Midland. They’re scheduled for games against No. 9 Huntington today at home and the Mohigans on Friday at The Greenbrier, weather pending.

On the boys side, Doddridge County and Parkersburg Catholic claimed the best rankings for area teams. The Bulldogs and Crusaders are ranked third in double-A and single-A, respectively.

DCHS had a light week last week, besting Tyler Consolidated 83-54 on Tuesday to improve to 12-1. The Bulldogs have won six straight games since a 58-55 loss to Robert C. Byrd (10th in AAA) on Dec. 30.

Catholic picked up three more wins last week to up its streak to eight. The Crusaders capped a productive week with a huge win over No. 4 Clay-Battelle. PCHS now is behind only No. 1 Tug Valley and No. 2 Greater Beckley.

Ripley comes in at No. 8 in Class AAA. The Vikings had just one game last week, routing Sissonville 61-33 on Tuesday. Ripley has won seven of its last eight, with the one defeat coming at the hands of No. 9 Nitro.

Lastly, the Parkersburg South boys are ranked fifth in quad-A. After a tough loss to St. Albans two weeks ago, the Patriots bounced back in a big way by handing previously unbeaten George Washington a 60-55 loss last Tuesday at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. PSHS then beat Parkersburg 63-47 on Friday to complete a sweep of its rivals. South is now 10-3 on the year, with one of those losses coming to top-ranked Morgantown (68-66 in OT on Jan. 8).