The Parkersburg girls basketball team celebrates after finishing off a 56-51 win over Morgantown in the state semifinals Friday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

CHARLESTON — No. 2 Parkersburg nearly led the entire affair against No. 3 Morgantown in a late Friday night Class AAAA state semifinal inside the Charleston Coliseum, and although the Mohigans managed a single tie at 44 it was the red and white who emerged with a 56-51 victory.

The 18-6 Big Reds of head coach Chris Murray, who scored the first eight points, now will clash Saturday night versus rival and fifth-seeded Parkersburg South, which sports a 20-5 record and owns a pair of regular season wins against their rival.

Carper Messerly, who scored 11 points and was joined in double figures by lone senior teammate Alyssa Tingler (12), squared it for the only time after she knocked down a 3 with 4:44 to go.

Kennedy Porter, who went for game-highs of 14 points and 14 rebounds, put PHS ahead for good 15 seconds later with a pair of foul shots.

“Parkersburg South is a great team. I think we just kind of need to bring more hustle,” said Porter, who watched teammates Lauren Flanagan (13) and Frances Guice (11) score in double figures while Faithlyn Butcher chipped in nine points and six boards with Lucie Cline adding five markers and 11 caroms.

The Parkersburg student section celebrates during the Big Reds’ 56-51 win over Morgantown in the state semifinals Friday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I think we’ve laid back a couple of times the last two times we’ve played them and I think we just really need to work hard. They aren’t going to give us anything easy. It’s going to be a tough game. I just think we really need to push hard like we did tonight.”

Following a lay-in by Butcher, PHS pushed ahead 50-44 with 2:54 to go when Cline swished in a 17-foot jumper.

Although two foul shots by Sydney Deusenberry and a Tingler putback closed it to 50-48 with 1:57 left, Butcher added a charity stripe toss and then Flanagan drained an 8-foot floater to make it a two-possession game with the clock at 0:51.

Morgantown head coach John Fowkes’ program got one final deuce thanks to Tingler, but Flanagan added a freebie from the line and then Butcher hit a pair to seal the Big Reds’ first title appearance since they won back-to-back Class AAA crowns in 2018-19.

“I think tonight they had four seniors on the floor and the experience may have gotten us a little bit there,” admitted Fowkes, who watched Cline and Flanagan hit their first two triples before it was 8-0 when Guice found the bottom of the net.

Parkersburg head coach Chris Murray has a question about a call during the Big Reds’ 56-51 win over Morgantown in the state semifinals Friday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Eden DeBord’s bucket with 10 seconds left in the first gave PHS a 16-11 cushion after one. Porter’s three-point play made it 19-13 and it was 29-24 at intermission after Porter closed the half with a putback.

The Mohigans got within a pair, 34-32, at 4:38 of the third when Ava Clinton made two foul shots, but Butcher’s runner was followed by a three-point play from Guice to give the Big Reds some breathing room. However, it was soon 40-39 thanks to a Messerly triple and a Leyton Balderson hoop, but Porter ended the quarter with another make thanks to an Amaya Lewis dime with a second left.

“I just felt like we kept getting really good offensive opportunities and we kept making and forcing really tough offensive opportunities for them,” said coach Murray. “Carper got loose a few times and hit some big shots off some screens, but I just thought we made them make really tough twos and credit to their post players inside.

“That’s the best I’ve ever seen them play and they did a really good job. I just felt like we were just getting to the rim really well on ball reversals. It was just a matter of converting those. Sometimes we did. Sometimes we didn’t, but I just kept telling the girls those were really good shots. We had a lot of great straight line drives and I’m proud of the girls.”

Despite at the time having just a three-point lead at 51-48, Flanagan took advantage of the situation where she converted the key floater in the lane.

Parkersburg's Frances Guice (3) congratulates teammate Lauren Flanagan after a bucket during the Big Reds’ 56-51 win over Morgantown in the state semifinals Friday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“You can’t guard two people down there. KP is such a force down there,” said Flanagan, who had a game-high four assists. “That girl had to decide and she was hugging KP’s side the past few possessions and I was like ‘I’m just going to shoot it’ because I’ve practiced those and I’ve worked hard, and I deserve to take a shot like that.”

Guice was just happy to get past the Mohigans.

“They are a really great team,” said the junior. “Hard to play against, but we have just grown and watched film countless amount of times just to get ready for them and it just shows that we paid attention to it.”

Parkersburg limited the Mohigans to 36% (18 of 50) from the field while shooting 41.2% (21 of 51).

“What a great game between two teams that I think combined 18 state titles between us. Credit to Morgantown,” added coach Murray. “They found a way through their adversity.

Parkersburg’s Lucie Cline handles the ball as Morgantown’s Carper Messerly defends during the Big Reds’ 56-51 win in the state semifinals Friday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“Our gameplan from Amy (Way) and then our assistant coaches Billy (Cottrill) and Rudy (Flanagan), Shay (Kirby) and Kyle (Mullen), what they do for us day-in and day-out, we wouldn’t be here today without them.”

The final game of the season will see the two Wood County rivals clash for the first time in a state championship tilt.

“I think over the past few months between now and the last time we played them we have worked our butts off,” Flanagan stressed. “We have worked extra hard. You know, clock is ticking.

“Time is ticking away and we’ve just continued as the course of the season has gone on we’ve just worked harder. We know what it takes to win now and we’re well prepared. I’m really proud of my teammates.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Parkersburg’s Eden DeBord and Morgantown’s Alyssa Tingler have a tie-up during the Big Reds’ 56-51 win in the state semifinals Friday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Parkersburg's Kennedy Porter looks to make an outlet pass after blocking the shot of Morgantown's Alyssa Tingler, rear, and grabbing the rebound. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Parkersburg’s Faithlyn Butcher makes a pass during the Big Reds’ 56-51 win over Morgantown in the state semifinals Friday in Huntington. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)