Parkersburg players celebrate after defeating Woodrow Wilson 92-46 in Wednesday’s Class AAAA, South Region co-final inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

PARKERSBURG — Phase one: Complete.

Parkersburg’s 92-46 victory over Woodrow Wilson in the Class AAAA, South Region co-finals Wednesday at Memorial Fieldhouse secured the Big Reds a spot in the state tournament.

The job, however, is not done.

“This was really phase one of a goal that they had and wanted to do,” said PHS head coach Chris Murray.

“We’ve got another step to go. We’ve done this one before, so our mindset is to go get ready for the next one.”

Parkersburg’s Lauren Flanagan handles the ball during the Big Reds’ 92-46 win over Woodrow Wilson in Wednesday’s Class AAAA, South Region co-final inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

The Big Reds earned the No. 2 seed in the quad-A bracket and will begin state tourney action at 1 p.m. Thursday versus No. 7 University. They’re three wins away from their first state championship since 2019.

“We’re not done yet,” said senior Lauren Flanagan, who scored a game-high 22 points.

“All year we’ve just been waiting for this moment to be able to go prove ourselves and prove to everybody that we’re a very good team. We deserve this. We worked so hard. I’m just so grateful to be in this position.”

Flanagan, who hit four 3-pointers in the game, knocked down two triples in the first quarter, the second breaking a 5-5 tie and putting Parkersburg in front for good.

Faithlyn Butcher, who finished with 13 points, turned a steal into a transition layup to make it a 10-point game in the first before a basket from Frances Guice, who netted 11 points, made it 19-7 after one.

Parkersburg head coach Chris Murray hi-fives players prior to Wednesday’s Class AAAA, South Region co-final against Woodrow Wilson inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Flanagan opened the second with another trey and Butcher followed with a basket, but Woodrow answered with six straight points from Zoey Williams, who finished with a team-high 20, to cut it to 24-12.

However, the Big Reds responded with a 12-0 run, fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Lucie Cline, to make it 36-12. It was 42-19 at halftime.

The Flying Eagles, who finished the season at 13-8, never were able to put much of a dent into Parkersburg’s lead. They trailed 59-35 going into the fourth.

PHS went up 30 for the first time on a Cline 3-pointer at the 6:30 mark in the fourth. Gracie Lively added a triple with 4:15 to go to make it 77-42. With 1:35 remaining, Flanagan and Lively made back-to-back fastbreak baskets to stretch the lead to 85-44.

Lilli Martinez got in on the action with a free throw with 1:16 left.

The energy in the gym was high throughout the night, but the loudest moment came with 23 seconds left when Eden DeBord splashed a contested 3-pointer from the top of the arc.

DeBord, one of seven seniors for Parkersburg along with Flanagan, Cline, Lively, Martinez, Kennedy Porter and Kenslee Lemasters, hadn’t made a 3 all year and was 0 for 10 from beyond the arc in her varsity career.

“Eden’s a post player, so she doesn’t shoot a lot of 3s in games,” Flanagan laughed. “And she swishes it. It was such a great moment. We all love Eden.”

Murray wasn’t surprised to see DeBord knock that one down.

“She shoots those shots,” he said. “For us, it’s not a shock. The place went nuts when she made it. It was awesome. It was a great feeling. She hit a contested 3. It was money, man. We love big E.”

Porter finished with a 16-point, 17-rebound double-double while Cline and Lemasters tallied nine points apiece. Parkersburg finished 47.4% (37 for 78) from the floor.

“We’ve got shooters for days, man,” Murray said.

“We put five visible threats on the floor. We’re hard to scout for and hard to prepare for. I was proud of the ball movement. I didn’t think we took a lot of selfish shots. I thought we took a lot of rhythm 3s.”

Karsyn Gunter scored 12 points and grabbed a team-high six boards for Woodrow Wilson, which shot 29.5% (13 for 44) and committed 26 turnovers.

For Parkersburg’s seniors, it was a dominating performance in the final game on their home floor.

“I was just so happy playing tonight,” said Flanagan, who put up game-highs with six assists and six steals. “I think the difference between this game and other games was it was just so exciting to play in the Fieldhouse one last time with all the seniors.”

Murray added, “Those seven seniors are some of the greatest kids you could ever coach in basketball. I can’t stress enough how much I love them, how much I care about them, how much they’ve given to us and how much they’ve really returned this program back to being a top-level program. They’re the best kids you could be around.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.