INSTITUTE — Through the first quarter of Tuesday’s girls basketball contest at the Country Roads Shootout, Parkersburg and Spring Valley appeared evenly matched.

By the end of the second period, the Big Reds had the game well under control and rolled to an 88-71 win at West Virginia State’s Walker Convocation Center.

The Timberwolves overcame an early 5-0 deficit to rally for an 18-14 lead through the first quarter. Spring Valley last held a lead at 21-20 with 7:11 to play in the second quarter.

Then it was all Parkersburg.

The Big Reds shot 12 of 21 from the field for 57% during the second quarter. That included making 4 of 6 3-pointers and owning a 16-5 advantage over Spring Valley in rebounding.

That all amounted to Parkersburg outscoring Spring Valley 28-14 in the period. The Big Reds held a 42-32 lead at halftime.

“Credit to Spring Valley,” Parkersburg coach Chris Murray said. “I thought their athleticism and pressure affected us in the first quarter. I really just told our girls to keep their eyes down the court and look at angles. Just settle down.”

A bad day of practice on Monday for Spring Valley told Timberwolves coach Bo Miller all he needed to know heading into Tuesday’s game.

“We’ve been off for a while,” Miller said. “That’s the first practice we had in over a week, but it’s late in the year. Hopefully we get it out of our system.”

During that practice, Miller said Spring Valley ran through layup drills, and the rust showed. It continued on Tuesday, with the Timberwolves missing good looks under the basket.

Parkersburg took advantage of the missed shots, outrebounding Spring Valley 49-39.

The offensive miscues were the least of Spring Valley’s troubles, too. The Big Reds’ Frances Guice often found herself alone on the outside, and her teammates found her for open shots.

Guice finished 10 of 15 shooting, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range, and led Parkersburg with 29 points.

“We were 52% from 3,” Murray said. “That’s a bit of an anomaly, but we took open shots and we made open shots.”

Parkersburg (11-4) also got 19 points from Lucie Cline, who made 6 of 8 from the floor and 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Kennedy Porter scored 16 points while grabbing 19 rebounds, Lauren Flanagan added 12 points and Faithlyn Butcher scored 10.

The Big Reds’ largest lead was 19 points in the second half.

For Spring Valley (10-6), Sophi Hutchison led the way with 29 points, many of those on fast-break points she created herself. Hutchison had six steals.

Emma Edwards scored 14 for the Timberwolves and led them with 11 rebounds. Lucy Jackson scored 11 points and Brooklyn Ellis added 10.

“We were completely out of focus,” Miller said. “That’s two days now. They came out a little bit better in the second half, but the first half was just walking in a haze.”

Tuesday’s matchup was the first of two big contests for each team. Parkersburg will return home to face undefeated George Washington on Friday, while Spring Valley will host Cabell Midland at the Wolves Den the same night.