BY MICHAEL CASAZZA The Dominion Post
   Through three quarters and most of a fourth of a game she started Friday night, Parkersburg South’s Alisyn Morris had not scored and wasn’t looking to shoot much since discovering early on her touch was a little off against Morgantown High.
   Her evaluation?
   “Horrible,” she said, with neither pride nor hesitation.
   Maybe that’s why it seemed as though the Mohigans had simply, perhaps understandably, lost track of Morris with the game on the line.
   Morris made two free throws after grabbing an offensive rebound to give her team the lead late in the game, then slid uncovered to the basket on a defensive breakdown two possessions later for the decisive basket as the Class AAA No. 3-ranked Patriots beat No. 4 MHS, 47-39.
   “Big finish,” Morris said.
   The Mohigans lost for the first time this season in a rematch of last year’s state championship game, also won by Parkersburg South (9-2).
   Taylor Phillips led all scorers with 17 points — 13 in the first half — for Parkersburg South. Morris had just four points, but it reflected her team’s balance. Six Patriots had at least four points.
   Tia Ferrebee led MHS with 15 points. Cynthia Fullard added 10.
   The Mohigans (10-1) led 36-35 after three quarters, but made one basket and scored just three points in the fourth. It was a significant change of pace. MHS scored 18 points in the third quarter, equaling its output from the first half, and thrived off an effective inside-outside combination of Fullard and Ferrebee. Fullard score eight points down low and Ferrebee added eight of her own, including two 3-pointers.
   “I got a little vocal with them and got in their face a little and challenged them to step it up,” Patriots coach Scott Stephens said. “We were playing one of the best teams in the state and we were not going to get by doing things the way we were.”
   A Phillips basket gave Parkersburg South a 39-36 lead before Ferrebee tied the score one last time on a 3-pointer with 3:50 left in the game. Phillips badly missed a 3 on the next possession, only to watch Morris sneak into proper position, find the rebound and go up quickly to draw a foul.
   “I always try to follow the ball,” she said. “I just went to it and there was no one there.”
   Her free throws gave the Patriots the lead for good. MHS turned the ball over on the next possession and Parkersburg South answered with an inside basket by Asia Greenleaf. After MHS missed a 3, the Patriots were in the middle of running their offense inside the twominute mark when Morris moved toward teammate Danielle Harvey, who was dribbling away valuable time. Morris’ defender inched close enough to Harvey to attempt a double-team.
   “We were actually looking to hold the ball right there,” Stephens said, “but we caught someone in a double-team.”
   Morris alertly drifted to the basket and Harvey lofted a pass underneath for an easy score and a 45-39 lead. “I saw what they were doing and I saw an opening,” Morris said.
“There was no one down there, so I thought it’d be a good idea to score some more points.”
   The Mohigans missed a final 3 and Harvey made two free throws to finish the game. The Patriots were 13-for-17 at the foul line while MHS was just 1-for-2, a statistic that was indicative of two very different styles.
   “What I told the girls was we had similar quickness, but there was a difference,” MHS coach Allan Collins said. “We were looking to penetrate and give it up for a shooter. They would penetrate and go all the way. They would go all the way until you committed a defender, then they would dish it and either set up an easy shot or draw a foul.”