By Rick Ryan, Charleston Gazette

Kayla Ayers is too good a player to be held down for too long. Huntington, much to its chagrin, discovered that Saturday night.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Ayers scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter as Parkersburg South came from behind three times in the final period to earn a 51-43 victory over the Highlanders in the Class AAA girls basketball state tournament title game. An estimated crowd of 1,000 was on hand at the Civic Center.

"I wasn't doing it in the first half,'' Ayers said, "and I wanted to go out there and do my best because I have confidence in myself. I was not going to go out my senior year with a loss in the state championship game. If you don't jump, you'll never fly. We definitely jumped today, and we flew.''

It marked the second championship in three seasons for the Patriots (26-1), who won two of three games this season against the top-seeded Highlanders (25-2). Huntington shot just 29.6 percent Saturday and turned the ball over 18 times.

"We tried to make Huntington play at a little quicker pace than they wanted to,'' said South coach Scott Stephens. "That was our game plan, and we did everything we wanted to do today. The overall pace of the game suited us, and our kids just wanted it.''

South, after missing a golden opportunity to stretch its lead in the second quarter when Huntington's top two scorers (Whitney Bays, Nicole Eubank) sat out with two fouls each, found itself in a 35-all tie entering the final quarter.

The Highlanders even took the lead three times in the fourth quarter, the final one on a follow shot with 5:10 to go by a banged-up Bays (18 points, six rebounds). Ayers sank two free throws with 4:19 left to give the Patriots the lead for good at 43-42, but the drama wasn't done.

Each team made 1-of-2 at the foul line, keeping South ahead by one at 44-43. Nicole Madison rebounded the second miss for the Patriots but was called for traveling in heavy traffic. Ayers made Huntington pay by nailing a jumper with 2:48 to go and South led 46-43.

Huntington had two possessions and missed three shots to the Patriots' one miss, and when South took possession with 1:52 left, it was time to take the air out of the ball. The Patriots worked the clock down to 31 seconds before Ali Morris was fouled and went to the line for a 1-and-1.

Morris missed, and to complicate matters for South, Huntington's Erin Bailes was fouled 90 feet from the basket at the 26-second mark. She missed her 1-and-1, but the Highlanders got their 17th offensive rebound and were still alive. Logan Clark missed a 3 that would have tied it, and Huntington got another chance when the ball went out of bounds off South.

At least Huntington thought it had another chance.

Danielle Floyd deflected the inbound pass to teammate Asia Greenleaf and Floyd was fouled with 15 seconds remaining. She made the first free throw for a four-point lead and, in a dizzying sequence, got her own rebound when the second missed and followed it home, then hit another layup at the buzzer after South swiped the ball at midcourt.

"They were capable of taking us out of our ballgame with pressure,'' said Huntington coach Lonnie Lucas, "and it threw us off quite a bit. Even when we got through [the pressure] and got it to the bucket, we couldn't make a basket. We knew what they were going to throw at us. It was just a little better tonight than normal.

"The caliber of game was tough for us to adjust to. We're not used to playing that physical and with people hanging on us.''

Stephens was concerned at halftime because South not only didn't stretch its lead when Bays and Eubank sat out the entire second quarter, it allowed Huntington to catch up at one point.

"We weren't feeling too good,'' Stephens said. "We felt like we should have put some distance between us, but we weren't making our outside shots. That's what we talked about at halftime. We were a little timid, nervous to pull the trigger. We told them if they stayed in that zone, you've got to fire it up and everybody go to the rebound.''

Ayers took his words to heart.

After taking just two shots - and missing both - in the first half, she finally started to heat up in the fourth quarter. She knocked down a pair of 3s just 32 seconds apart, the first forging a tie and the second giving South a 41-40 lead.

"They though Bays could guard Kayla on the perimeter because [Bays] was in foul trouble,'' Stephens said, "but Bays can't guard Kayla on the perimeter. I don't think she can guard her anywhere. [Ayers] stepped back a couple times when it looked like she would drive to get [Bays] off balance. She hit two in a row for us, which was a huge momentum swing.

"I don't brag about Kayla very often, because it seems when I do, she lets up a little bit. But now that she's done playing for me, I can [brag]. Her whole career she's never had me be real positive or nice to her. I've always been kicking her in the butt, trying to make her work harder ... but Kayla is one of the best players we've ever had at Parkersburg South and she showed that in the second half today.''

Bays not only missed the entire second quarter with two fouls, but sat out a short stretch in the third quarter after taking a hard spill to the floor, aggravating a back injury. She continued to play in obvious pain. At several junctures, trainers worked on Bays in the hallway just beyond the Highlanders bench.

"I don't like making excuses for how I play,'' Bays said. "I was in a lot of discomfort. I think I let my pride get the best of me at one point when I just should have stayed out a little bit. I don't like being on the bench very much.

"It was very hard to get in the flow when my back was hurt. It was uncomfortable to shoot. It's disappointing. It just wasn't our night tonight.''

Parkersburg South beats Huntington

By John Raby, Associated Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Kayla Ayers picked a perfect ending to her career at Parkersburg South.
Held scoreless in the first half, Ayers scored 10 of her 14 points in the fourth quarter to lead Parkersburg South past Huntington 51-43 in the girls Class AAA championship game Saturday night.
Second-seeded Parkersburg South (26-1) won its second title in three years.
Ayers had averaged nearly 22 points in the two previous tournament games. She wasn't much more than a spectator in the first half Saturday.
``I just knew that I had to step up and play better than what I did in the first half,'' Ayers said. ``And I wanted to win so bad and I was not going to go out in my senior year with a loss in the state championship game.
Huntington (25-2) lost in the title game for the second straight season.
The teams split two games during the regular season. Parkersburg South won on Dec. 29 and Huntington won on Feb. 2.
``Actually, I'm kind of glad we lost the second game so we wouldn't go in bigheaded,'' said Parkersburg South's Ali Morris. ``Because it's really, really hard to beat a decent team three times in a row. So we all came in extremely ready to play them.''
Huntington came back from a 25-19 halftime deficit to tie the game at 35-35 after three quarters.
Ayers sank 3-pointers 30 seconds apart for a 41-40 lead with 5:56 left in the game. She gave Parkersburg South the lead for good with two free throws for a 43-42 lead with 4:19 remaining.
Huntington was held to one point the rest of the game. Danielle Floyd scored five of her 13 points in the final 15 seconds for Parkersburg South to clinch the win.
Sophomore Whitney Bays score 11 of her 18 points in the second half for Huntington. She played through a recurring back problem, even going to the locker room briefly after falling hard to the floor in the second quarter.
``It's very disappointing to lose,'' she said. ``It's never fun, but we can only learn from this and try to come back next year harder.''
Both Ayers and Morris were sophomores on the 2006 team that beat Morgantown for the Patriots' first-ever championship. Morris was asked which of the two championships meant more.
``They're both pretty amazing,'' she said. ``It was an amazing way to begin our career at South and there's not a better way to end it. So it's pretty much a tie. We had a big parts in both of them. But it was a little bit bigger this year because we were leaders.''
 

Parkersburg South Wins Class AAA Girl's Championship

By Chris Spencer, Huntingtonnews.net Photographer
Charleston, WV (HNN) - Parkersburg South won the West Virginia Girl's High School Basketball Class AAA Championship at the Charleston Civic Center on Saturday evening giving Huntington High School the runner-up award for the second year in a row.
Both schools with a record of 25-1 and had defeated each other during the regular season did not disappoint basketball fans when they met for the championship. The Highlanders were seeded one and Parkersburg South seeded number two.
Parkersburg South took an 18-14 lead in the first period and was up 25-19 at the end of the second period. The Highlanders out scored the Patriots in the third period 16-10 making the score tied 35-35.
The score was tied again at 42-42 with 4:19 remaining in the game. Parkersburg South began to slowly pull away as shots from the Highlander offense trying to play catch up were not going in giving the Patriots the championship win.
Named to the 2008 West Virginia Class AAA All Tournament Girl's Basketball Team were Whitney Bays, Huntington High; Asia Greenleaf, Parkersburg South; Kayla Ayers, Parkersburg South; Cynthia Fullard, Morgantown; Nicole Eubank, Huntington High; Danielle Floyd, Parkersburg South; Alisyn Morris, Parkersburg South and Erin Bailes from Huntington High.
Morgantown won the School Sportsmanship Award and North Marion won the School Spirit Award.
The Bridgeport High School Cheerleaders that were the Class AAA runner-up winners performed at halftime.
Huntington High won the runner-up award last year (2007) losing to state champion Morgantown 59-55. Parkersburg South won the Class AAA championship in 2006 with a 61-57 victory over Morgantown.

CHARLESTON — Two years ago, a pair of wide-eyed sophomores walked onto the floor of the Charledton Civic Center and played dramatic roles in helping Parkersburg South win its first Class AAA girls state basketball championship.
The duo of Ali Morris and Kayla Ayers was back in the Mountain State’s capital city this past week and, you guessed it, led the Patriots to their second state title in three year.
“It was an amazing way to begin our careers at South and it’s a great way to go out,” Morris explained after the southsiders’ 51-43 come-from-behind victory over No. 1 seed Huntington in Saturday night’s title game.
Morris and Ayers both were reserves on the 2006 Patriot squad that made the trek down Interstate I-77 to participate in the ‘Big Dance’.
But it soon became evident to all who were in attendance that these two girls were more than your everyday backups. From the very first game until the championship showdown with No. 1 seed Morgantown, the duo provided spark after spark just when the red, white and blue needed them most.
“As a sophomore you are a little in awe of this place,” said Ayers following Parkersburg South’s semifinal victory over Woodrow Wilson. “As seniors, we knew what to expect.”
Ayers and Morris were named to the all-tournament team as ophomores following South’s 61-57 upset over Morgantown in the title game. Joining them on the honor squad that year was junior Taylor Phillips.
A loss to Morgantown in the semifinals a year ago kept the southsiders from repeating, but also set the stage for this year’s tournament.
“That loss probably did more to drive us to become better than anything else,” said Morris. “We really came together as a team during the summer and came into the season with a determination to return.”
And return Morris and Ayers did. But, this time they were joined by a cast of characters that included senior Kara Longwell, junior Danielle Floyd and sophomore Asia Greenleaf as well as a bench that every basketball coach in the state would envy.
“This was just an extraordinary effort by an extraordinary bunch of girls,” head coach Scott Stephens explained.
“It has just been a pleasure to be their coach.”
With their roles elevated from reserve to starter, Morris and Ayers took turns carrying the Patriot attack through the first two rounds of action.
Ayers poured in 22 points in South’s 70-56 win over South Charleston and 21 more in only 17 minutes of action against the Flying Eagles in a 59-30 semifinal win.
Morris’ point production wasn’t as great, but her contributions in both wins were as she finished with six rebounds and three assists in the opening round game and dished out eight more assists in the win over Woodrow Wilson.
Just like in 2006, South’s ‘other’ players began to step out of the shadows of their more noted teammates and began to shine on their own.
Floyd poured in 15 points against the Black Eagles and added eight more on Friday night while Greenleaf had a double-double (1 points, 11 rebounds) against South Charleston and knotched two points and five rebounds in limited time against Beckley.
Each of the four then took turns on Saturday leading the southsiders to victory.
Greenleaf, who finished with nine points, Morris, Floyd and senior reserve Amber Shreeves got the South offense rolling early while Ayers went through an unusual drought from the field.
However, when the Patriots’ six-footer did find the range, she responded with eight straight points to help the Wood Countians overcome a Huntington lead and push the red, white and blue in front for good with 4:19 left to play, 43-42.
“They (Huntington) were playing pretty good defense on me so it was nice to see my teammates pick up the scoring,” said Ayers, who is the niece of Parkersburg South athletics director Joe Crislip.
It was just as nice to see them pick up their all-tournament plaques following the game.
For their efforts during the four-day event Ayers and Morris were selected for the second time as members of the 8-player all-tournament squad while Floyd and Greenleaf were chosen for the first time.
“We have just had an amazing run of athletes that have come through Parkersburg South over the last several years,” said Stephens. “Having four of our kids selected to the all-tournament team simply means that others out there recognize that as well.”
If they didn’t before, you can bet winning a second title over a three year period has sent a unmistakenly clear message.