Williamstown ballhandler Caleb Atkinson (21) and Parkersburg Catholic’s Preston Randolph get locked up along the perimeter during Wednesday’s game at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

WILLIAMSTOWN – Parkersburg Catholic threw a curve ball with a defensive change on the fly that caused Williamstown to find an alternative scoring source.

The Yellowjackets never recovered and the Crusaders came away with a 60-55 victory in front of a packed house – reminiscent of the glory days when there was not a seat to be had in this small-school rivalry.

“To see that atmosphere tonight makes me really proud of where the program at Parkersburg Catholic is headed,” PCHS coach Jim McLean said after his club improved to 18-3 with one regular-season game remaining Friday against Wahama. “This win was for the entire community that struck through it with us.

“I was talking to the Williamstown coaches before the game about what filling the stands mean. There’s a lot of big rivalries in the state and this one used to be phenomenal then has gotten away from us a little bit because of our level of play in recent years.”

PCHS dealt with a two-headed monster – the energy provided by honoring the four Williamstown seniors (Tyler Keiser, Wyatt Powell, Dominic Strcula and Nate Nicely) along with the lone underclassman in the starting lineup.

Parkersburg Catholic’s Preston Randlph, left, is closely guarded by Williamstown’s Wyatt Powell (1) during Wednesday’s game at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Williamstown freshman Caleb Atkinson scored 12 of his team-high 18 points in a first quarter which saw the Yellowjackets connect on 8-of-12 shots from the field and build a 19-14 advantage.

The energy never left, but the shot-making alluded Williamstown for the final three quarters – particularly from long-distance. In the final 24 minutes of the game, the Yellowjackets connected on just 3-of-23 attempts from 3-point range.

“I thought we played with good energy the whole game – our energy was good but we didn’t hit our perimeter shots,” Williamstown coach Scott Sauro said as his team slipped to 10-11 with a regular-season finale scheduled for Friday at home with Chapmanville. “I had us for 6-for-30 on 3-pointers and you can’t do that against any team.

“If you are going to beat good teams you have to shoot from the perimeter. You don’t have to shoot 80%, but you have to be average.”

Behind the post play of Luke Anderson and his ability to weave his way through second-half trouble, the Crusaders eventually built a 13-point cushion (53-40) with 4 ½ minutes remaining in regulation.

Williamstown’s Tyler Keiser, left, is given an honorary basketball from Yellowjacket coach Scott Sauro as part of Senior Night, Wednesday at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“After the first quarter we just needed to make somebody else beat us because Caleb started making shots, and we had to figure out if somebody else could,” McLean said. “So we sat back in a little bit of a junk zone and made somebody else beat us. And it worked out.”

Anderson finished with a game-high 20 points and worked hard on the boards – something PCHS honed in on after losing two of its previous four games.

“When Luke goes in and rebounds like that, we are a hard team to beat,” McLain said. “Doddridge County beat us on the boards by 22 the other day and we can’t compete that way.”

Despite their struggles from the floor, Williamstown forced PCHS to play to the final second. The Crusaders’ sub-par performance from the free-throw line allowed the Yellowjackets to go on a 9-2 run and slice the deficit to 55-49 with two-plus minutes remaining in regulation. PCHS made just 5-of-15 attempts from the charity stripe.

A pair of assists from Anderson on made buckets from Leonardo DeAngelo and Carter Nelson bumped the margin back to double digits at 59-49, but a 6-1 spurt by Williamstown – capped by a Keiser putback – narrowed the margin to 60-55 at 23 seconds.

Williamstown’s Nate Frye, right, bumps up against Parkersburg Catholic ballhandler Preston Randolph (10) during Wednesday’s game at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

One of 12 turnovers committed by PCHS in the second half gave Williamstown a glimmer of hope, but the Yellowjackets were unable to get a shot off as an untimely turnover sealed the win for the Crusaders at 10.3 seconds.

Strcula added 16 points for Williamstown, while Nelson added 11 points and Preston Randolph contributed another 10 points.

“This was a heart win,” McLean said. “And we needed one because St. Joe and Doddridge took the fight to us, and we couldn’t recover from it. To come out of this atmosphere and weather the storm a little bit, keep our emotions in check and finish the game, I’m really proud of the boys.

“I respect the heck out of Scott and his players and what they do. They’ve got a great program and it was great to see them compete against each other.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com

The Williamstown Yellowjacket encourages a member of the Williamstown boys basketball on a free-throw attempt during Wednesday’s game against Parkersburg Catholic at Williamstown High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The Williamstown boys basketball team recognized four members on Senior Night prior to the start of Wednesday’s game against Parkersburg Catholic at Williamstown High School. Picture, from left, are seniors Tyler Keiser (23), Wyatt Powell (1), Dominic Strcula (3) and Nate Nicely (11). (Photo by Kerry Patrick)