Princeton, WV -

No. 2 shines

Princeton falls to Patriots

By JED LOCKETT
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
 

PRINCETON — This group of Patriots was not going for a perfect season — they had already lost once. But they still wanted to display why they are considered one of the best teams in West Virginia.

To do that, No. 2 Parkersburg South would have to fend off a resilient No. 9 Princeton Tigers squad. But a third-quarter run combined with 18 points apiece from Kayla Ayers and Danielle Floyd helped the Patriots leave Princeton Senior High School Tuesday night with an 81-62 win.

“It was a good game for us,” said Parkersburg South head coach Scott Stephens. “Hopefully, this is getting us ready for the tournament and that’s what we wanted.”

“I just think that Parkersburg’s got a lot of depth,” said Princeton head coach Debbie Ball. “They could rest their kids a lot during the play. It makes a difference when you keep your legs fresh. And even when they sub, you can’t tell that they’ve subbed. That’s a sign of a good program, when you have 10 good ball players that can attack like that.”

The Tigers stayed with the Patriots throughout the first half, keeping the score within just a few points for most of the 16 minutes. But the Patriots got a perfect start to the second half, scoring the first six points of the third period and outscoring the Tigers 18-13 in the quarter.

“I think that actually we started wearing them out just a little bit,” Stephens said. “I think we played a few more kids than they did. I think fatigue was maybe a little bit of a factor there. I think their legs were leaving them. Their shots weren’t quite as good in the second half as they were the first half.”

“I think our team played hard and they really didn’t give up,” Ball said. “I just think on some occasions they ran out of steam. It’s tough when you’ve got to go up against fresh people.”

The Patriots (20-1) helped their cause by outrebounding the Tigers 46-28. Alisyn Morris was Parkersburg South’s leading rebounder with 10 to go with 10 points.

“We were giving them a lot of putbacks in the first half,” Stephens said. “They were doing a nice job in transition and running and somebody’d miss a layup and they had three girls there ready to pounce on the ball and put it back in and we weren’t keeping them off the offensive boards very well in the first half and we did a much better job of that in the second half.”

Ayers and Floyd made significant contributions in scoring 18 points apiece. Ayers added nine rebounds to help the Patriots’ perfect dominance of the glass. And Floyd was nearly perfect with her long-range shooting, making four of five shots from behind the arc.

“It just feels really good,” Floyd said when asked how it feels when her shots are going in. “It frustrates me when I don’t make them.”

“That’s what we expect out of them,” Stephens said when asked about Ayers and Floyd. “They’re both capable of doing that. So that’s not a surprise at all.”

Amanda Smith led the Tigers (15-6) with 25 points and seven rebounds.

“Any of them can step up,” Ball said. “Amanda’s athletic. So when you have that athletic ability, you have access to the goal, you’re going to make some points.”

Tesla Akers added 19 points and six boards and Laura Whitt had 10 points and five rebounds.

“I know that we have capabilities to advance in the tournament,” Ball said. “And I know that given the opportunity of reaching Charleston I think that we’re going to be a contender.”

Parkersburg South will host Wheeling Park Friday night for its season finale. Before that game, they will emphasize turnovers. The Patriots committed 28 of them against the Tigers — a performance that was far from perfect.

“We turned it over way too much this evening,” Stephens said. “I think we had 18 at halftime and I don’t know what we had the second half. But we did turn it over too much in the first half.”

But the Patriots believe their season can have a perfect ending.

“I think we can go all the way if we keep doing what we’re doing,” Floyd said, “keep playing as a team.”

Princeton travels to Charleston for their final regular-season game against Nitro on Saturday. They know they have a lot to accomplish before the postseason tips off.

“Of course we’ve got to key a little bit on our defense,” Ball said. “Because they have the weapons they have, we’re just going to put a lot of emphasis on defense.”

At Princeton Senior High School

PARKERSBURG SOUTH (20-1)

Kayla Ayers 8-15 1-4 18, Danielle Floyd 7-11 0-1 18, Asia Greenleaf 5-6 1-1 11, Allisyn Morris 4-8 1-2 10, Seagraves 4-6 0-0 9, Shreeves 2-4 2-3 7, Hicks 2-3 0-0 4, Longwell 2-8 0-0 4, Porter 0-0 0-0 0, Gilkeson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 34-65 5-11 81.

PRINCETON (15-6)

Amanda Smith 9-17 5-8 25, Tesla Akers 7-15 4-5 19, Laura Whitt 3-13 3-4 10, McClung 3-9 1-1 7, Pawlowski 0-2 1-2 1, Walker 0-0 0-1 0, Jackson 0-1 0-0 0, Broyles 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 22-64 14-21 62.

Parkersburg South.......21 19 18 23 — 81

Princeton.......................19 15 13 15 — 62

3-point goals—Parkersburg South 8-15 (Floyd 4-5, Ayers 1-1, Seagraves 1-1, Morris 1-2, Shreeves 1-2, Gilkeson 0-1, Longwell 0-3), Princeton 4-14 (Smith 2-3, Akers 1-4, Whitt 1-4, Steele 0-1, Broyles 0-2).

Preps Round-Up

Parkersburg News & Sentinel

Parkersburg South 81,  Princeton 62
PRINCETON — Kayla Ayers and Danielle Floyd each tallied 18 points here Tuesday night as No. 2 Parkersburg South topped host and No. 8 Princeton, 81-62, in a Class AAA battle.

The Patriots, now 20-1, led the host Tigers (15-5) only 40-34 at the half, but put the game away in the second 16 minutes of play.

Asia Greenleaf added 11 points, Ali Morris 10 and Mary Seagraves nine for South, while Floyd gunned in foour treys.

Princeton was paced by Amanda Smith with 25 points and Tesla Akers with 19.

South next plays Fridday, hosting Wheeling Park at 7:30 p.m.

Junior Varsity

Parkersburg South   11   17   17   20  =  65

Princeton                 10   09   17   08  =  44

South JV Scoring:  Jessica Moore 12, Sammy Hicks 9, Katelyn Porter 8, Kristiana Hunt 8, Kelsi Halbert 7, Mary Seagraves 5, Sarah Beha 4, Hannah Maston 4.