2007-2008 Parkersburg South Girls Basketball

##	Player		Total FG		3-Pnt FG	F-Throws	Off	Def	Tot	PF	A	TO	Blk	Stl	Min	Pts
15	Ayers, Kayla	*	9-20		1-1	3-3	3	3	6	0	1	1	0	2	30	22
20	Floyd, Danielle	*	4-9		1-3	6-8	3	4	7	3	6	10	0	2	29	15
22	Morris, Ali	*	2-10		0-1	3-6	3	3	6	3	3	4	1	2	26	7
32	Longwell, Kara	*	0-2		0-0	0-0	0	7	7	0	0	0	0	2	17	0
34	Greenleaf, Asia	*	4-7		0-0	4-4	3	8	11	1	1	1	2	2	25	12
10	Gilkeson, Jessie		4-4		0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	12	8
23	Shreeves, Amber		1-2		0-1	1-4	0	2	2	1	2	3	0	1	16	3
31	Seagraves, Mary		0-0		0-0	0-0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	2	0
35	Hicks, Sammy		1-1		0-0	1-2	1	1	2	0	0	1	0	0	3	3
TM	TEAM		0-0		0-0	0-0	0	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals..............		25-55		2-6	18-27	13	31	44	10	15	20	3	12	160	70
				45.5%	33.3%	66.7%

South Charleston Statistics:

##	Player		Total FG	3-Pnt FG	F-Throws	Off	Def	Tot	PF	A	TO	Blk	Stl	Min	Pts
15	Butler, Kesha	*	3-13	1-4	0-0	4	0	4	3	6	4	0	1	39	7
24	Jones, Cierra	*	1-6	0-1	0-0	0	1	1	0	1	2	0	1	3	2
33	Walker, Kinsey	*	2-4	0-0	1-2	0	1	1	4	0	0	0	1	13	5
35	Morgan, Alexa	*	5-8	1-1	3-4	6	3	9	4	3	0	0	2	17	14
43	Holland, Laverda	*	9-22	0-3	0-2	0	3	3	2	0	1	0	3	25	18
11	Wagner, Stephanie		2-7	1-3	0-0	3	1	4	3	2	2	0	0	27	5
25	Walls, Erica		0-2	0-0	1-2	1	1	2	0	0	2	0	1	7	1
31	Browning, Kortney		0-0	0-0	0-0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
34	McDaniel, Sha'ned		0-3	0-0	0-0	2	0	2	2	0	2	0	0	4	0
45	Walker, Karley		2-8	0-4	0-0	1	3	4	3	0	5	3	1	19	4
55	Messinger, Jordan		0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
TM	TEAM		0-0	0-0	0-0	3	5	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Totals..............		24-73	3-16	5-10	21	20	41	21	12	18	3	10	160	56
			32.9%	18.8%	50.0%

Second-half surge saves South win

By Steve Hemmelgarn, Parkersburg News & Sentinel

CHARLESTON — Second-seeded Parkersburg South struggled with the quickness of No. 7 seed South Charleston here Wednesday in the first round of the Class AAA state girls basketball tournament.

The Patriots trailed from the outset for almost 2 1/2 quarters, but outscored the Black Eagles 44-28 in the second half en route to a 70-56 triumph at the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum.

With the win — although ‘‘not a typical Parkersburg South game; we didn’t play like we normally do,’’ said Patriot head coach Scott Stephens — South, now 24-1, advanced to Friday’s 9 p.m. state semifinal versus the winner of today’s 7:15 p.m. quarterfinal matchup pitting North Marion against Beckley Woodrow Wilson.

‘‘We’re not real pleased with the way we performed, but we’ll take the ‘W,’ ’’added Stephens,

South Charleston (14-11) jumped out to a 10-0 lead, as the Patriots seemed to be a little flumoxed early on by the Black Eagles’ aggressive play, especially on defense. ‘‘Their quickness did cause us problems,’’ admitted Stephens. ‘‘They got to places before we thought they could.’’

Patriot point guard Danielle Floyd, though, took an inbounds pass coast to coast for a layup to get South finally off the schneid at 3:36 of the first period, then gunned in a trey at 3:22 to cut the deficit in half at 10-5. But SC’s margin was 13-8 at the quarter break and 10 at 22-12 by the 6:04 mark of the second stanza before South chopped the lead down to two twice in the final 1:45 as the halftime score was 28-26.

A 7-0 Patriot run early in the third quarter enabled South to move on top, 35-34, for the first time in the game at 5:34 on Floyd’s two foul shots. But a four-point burst by Keshia Butler pushed the Black Eagles ahead one final time at 39-38 before the Patriots ended the period on a 13-0 run to surge into a 51-39 lead.

‘‘I think in the second half, we were maybe a little bit fresher,’’ said Stephens. ‘‘They looked to run out of steam and when we got that run on them, that took some of the wind out of their sails a little bit and let us start to get control of the basketball game.’’

But not entirely, even after forging a 58-43 lead with 4:51 to play, as SC got within eight at 4:03 and was still that close as late as 1:24 before the Patriots finished the game with a 6-0 run.

South’s Kayla Ayers led all scorers in the game with 22 points, while Floyd netted 15 points and dished out six assists and Patriot teammate Asia Greenleaf tallied 12 points and corraled 11 rebounds.

South Charleston’s Laverda Holland topped her team’s point-production with 18, followed by Alexa Morgan with 14 along with nine rebounds.

Shorthanded Black Eagles come up short

by J.T. Simms, Daily Mail sportswriter

For an underdog to upset a heavy favorite, a lot of things have to go right.

Losing your leading scorer and team leader to a knee injury in the first quarter definitely does not help.

That's exactly the position in which No. 7 seed South Charleston High found itself Wednesday in a Class AAA girls basketball State Tournament opening-round game against second-seeded Parkersburg South.

Whether they were taking advantage of the situation or simply pulled themselves together, the Patriots came back from 10-point deficit to score a 70-56 win at the Charleston Civic Center.

When the unranked Black Eagles (14-11) upset No. 3 Nitro in a regional final, senior guard Cierra Jones commented on how everything fell into place for her team.

During the early going in the State Tournament quarterfinal, it looked as if that might happen again. Then, Jones suffered a right knee injury in the second quarter.

Behind an outstanding tournament debut performance from freshman Alexa Morgan, South Charleston scored the first 10 points of the game and looked to have the Patriots (24-1) on the ropes.

"It seemed like they kind of fell into our hands at the beginning of the game," Black Eagle senior Keshia Butler said. "And we were just ready to play."

South Charleston's full-court pressure forced Parkersburg South into numerous turnovers in the first quarter and throughout the first half.

"They are a very quick team the quickest we've played all year," Patriots' Coach Scott Stephens said. "We don't normally turn the ball over like that and you have to give South Charleston credit."

That quickness caught Stephens' players by surprise.

"I was shocked," Patriot point guard Danielle Floyd said. " I didn't realize they were going to put that much pressure on me."

South survives hot start from SC

By John McCoy, Charleston Gazette Staff writer

Parkersburg South countered South Charleston's hot start with a torrid second-half run and pulled away to a 70-56 victory in Wednesday's first round of the Class AAA state high school girls' tournament at the Civic Center.

Seventh-seeded South Charleston began the game with a 10-0 run and didn't allow the second-seeded Patriots to score until the 3:46 mark of the first quarter.

"They fell into our hands at the beginning of the game," South Charleston guard Keshia Butler said afterward. "We went after them hard and got to them a little with our defensive pressure."

The Black Eagles lost momentum, however, after star player Cierra Jones suffered a knee injury with six seconds remaining in the first quarter.

"I was going to the basket hard and jump-stopped," Jones said. "My knee popped out of place and then popped back in. It was very painful."

South Charleston coach Tim Wells said the extent of Jones' injury wouldn't be known until she undergoes an MRI. "Cierra was our leading scorer, our leading rebounder and our leader in steals," Wells said. "It really hurt us to lose her."

Shortly after Jones' injury, Parkersburg South closed the margin to five. But a 3-pointer by Stephanie Wagner, a pair of jumpers by Karley Walker and a steal-plus-layup by Luverdia Holland stretched the Black Eagles' lead to 10 points again.

The Patriots finally countered South Charleston's speed and quickness by pounding the ball inside. All but one of Parkersburg South's baskets came from inside the paint as the Patriots gradually whittled the lead to two, 28-26, at the half.

No. 2 Parkersburg South tops South Charleston

by Rich Stevens, Daily Mail sportswriter

Senior Kayla Ayers scored 22 points as No. 2 Parkersburg South handed South Charleston a 70-56 defeat in the quarterfinal round of the girls State Tournament Wednesday at the Charleston Civic Center.

The Patriots (23-1), who spotted the Black Eagles (16-9) an 8-0 lead, took advantage of the loss of South Charleston's leading scorer Cierra Jones, who injured he knee late in the first half.

Jones, who averaged 12 points per game, didn't return.

"I was going hard to the basket and all my weight went on my right leg," Jones said. "My knee went outward and when I went down it popped back into place."

Danielle Floyd had 15 points and Asia Greenleaf 12 for the Patriots, who advance to Friday's 9 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Thursday's North Marion-Beckley game.

Luverdia Holland had 18 points to lead South Charleston, which included 10 in the fourth period. Alexa Morgan had 14 points for the Black Eagles.