Parkersburg South’s Lindsey Logston drives for a layup against Martinsburg in a state quarterfinal matchup Thursday in Charleston. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

CHARLESTON — Freshmen Lindsey Logston and Quinn Bolyard got their first taste of state tournament action Thursday, leading Parkersburg South to a 59-46 win over Martinsburg in the Class AAAA state quarterfinals at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Logston and Bolyard combined for 39 points for the fifth-seeded Patriots, who will take on top-seeded George Washington at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the semis.

“We didn’t think, at this point, the moment would be too big for us,” said PSHS head coach Ed Davis. “That didn’t cross our mind, no matter how our roster makeup is.”

Logston led all scorers with 25 points and had a game-high six steals. She was 10 for 17 from the floor.

“We play great as a team, moving the ball and stuff,” Logston said. “My mindset was just to be aggressive and attack the basket and take what comes to me. A lot of our offense was generated by our defense. I think we did a great job flying around and just getting those turnovers and translating that.”

Parkersburg South’s Quinn Bolyard, center, gets past Martinsburg’s Aaliyah Wymer (15) and Aviyanna King (1) during a state quarterfinal matchup Thursday in Charleston. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Bolyard, who added 14 points, credited teammates Tae Richards and Emilee Owens for providing the Patriots with quality senior leadership.

“Obviously, as a freshman, we have to not rely on our seniors, but go to them for help,” she said. “We felt really prepared for this moment.”

Davis added, “(Richards and Owens) have steadied the ship for us throughout the year. They were critical tonight. They have played well off our youth and our underclassmen. I give them all the credit in the world for doing that. They’ve been big contributors for us.”

The first eight minutes were very competitive, with Kylei Prout’s layup putting Martinsburg up 14-13 at the end of one.

However, the Patriots scored the first 11 points of the second quarter and never trailed again.

Parkersburg South’s Grace Dotson, right, looks to pass as Martinsburg’s Claire Rivas defends during a state quarterfinal matchup Thursday in Charleston. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“We wanted to attack,” said Davis, whose Patriots finished 43.9% (18 for 41) from the floor. “We got to the line a lot in the second second quarter. Attacking mentality. It’s hard to run offense against them with the ball pressure, so we just kind of had to attack it or get a quick ball screen or something. We played really solid man defense on them in the second quarter, and that’s a credit to our kids.”

Seven straight points from Logston in the final minute of the first half helped balloon the lead to 14, 36-22, by halftime.

Martinsburg, which finished the season at 19-3, refused to make things easy on South (18-5). The Bulldogs used a 10-0 run midway through the third to get within four, 41-37.

Logston closed the third with a basket and Owens opened the fourth with a trey as the Patriots stretched the lead back to double digits.

A couple of baskets by Aviyanna King, who had a team-high 12 points, got MHS within six, but South closed the game on a 10-3 run.

“We played a good basketball team, a well-coached basketball team,” Davis said. “They’re going to put a run on you, and they did. I thought we answered it in the fourth quarter well and bounced back. That’s been kind of us all year. We’ve been resilient. That’s one of the best character qualities of many that this basketball team of ours has.”

Zianna Lomax finished with nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. She and Prout combined to give Martinsburg a strong presence in the paint.

Kenna Mace, who matched Richards with a team-high six rebounds, said South’s practice habits help the team stay prepared against opponents with size.

“We have a really tall (assistant) coach,” Mace said. “His name is Dan Morris, and we always have to play defense on him. He’s like 6-7. Those girls are aggressive and they’re good players, but compared to Dan — I mean, he’s 6-7 and they’re like 5-8 or 5-9, so that kind of helps us.”

Another factor that helped the Patriots was their zone defense, which came in handy against a Martinsburg unit that likes to penetrate. The Bulldogs finished 34.5% (18 for 55) from the floor and had to settle for 16 attempts from beyond the arc, with just two makes.

“We wanted to take away their penetration as much as possible,” Davis said. “They really attack the basket well. I thought our girls did a really good job when we switched to zone, late third and into the fourth quarter, of adjusting and contesting those 3-point shots a little bit, even in the zone.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.