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Patriot girls pick up first win

PARKERSBURG — Screech!

Parkersburg South halted a three-game slide with a 58-51 triumph over River High Monday night in a girls’ basketball game at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center.

“It is (a relief), and we’re thrilled to death for the girls,” said PSHS head coach Ed Davis, whose Pats are now 1-3 on the season.

“They’re happy, and River’s a tough out. (Lauren) Flannery is as good as anybody that we’ll see all year, handling the ball and creating shots for her and her teammates.”

Davis paused.

“We had leads in two of those losses (vs. Fort Frye and Huntington) that we let slip away — and part of that is inexperience and part of it was those were pretty good teams,” the Patriot boss continued. “On Saturday, we didn’t play pretty at Wheeling Park, but we played hard. It was a two-possession game or so at the end again until we had to foul.”

Against River (3-2), Erin Williams led four double-digit Patriot scorers with a game-high 14 points, 8 rebounds, five steals, and four assists. Mckenna Winans added 13 markers, while Sierra Hays and Kenzie Johnson had 10 apiece. Rylee Harner netted seven, all in the third quarter.

Hays and Johnson each had five assists, while Jordan Huffman had eight boards.

“That’s great,” said Davis of his team’s scoring balance. “We’re sharing the basketball. And I think we’ll shoot better as the season goes.”

Flannery led River with 13 points, 8 in the final period. Riley Lollithan chipped in with 10 markers, and Candace Caldwell and Alli Lang each netted seven.

The Pilots actually outpointed the Patriots, 32-26, in the second half.

Early on, there were five lead changes and two ties. Late in the opening period, South got buckets from Lauren Pelfrey, Winans, and Johnson to take a 14-8 lead. After that, the Pats never looked back.

In the second quarter, Williams had the hot hand, scoring seven points as PSHS extended its advantage to 32-19 at the intermission.

River battled back in the third quarter, thanks to five Livi Rose points, and cut it to 11, 44-33.

Sparked by Flannery in the fourth, the Pilots reduced the deficit to seven points, 56-49. But it proved to be too little, too late as the Patriots made enough of their freebies to keep the visitors from Hannibal, Ohio, at bay.

“It’s a work in progress,” Davis said. “We’re still working on replacing a lot of production that we lost from last year. But the girls are working hard.”

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