Wheeling Park (18-6)
| Rebounds | |||||||||||||||
|
## |
Player |
Total FG | 3-Pnt FG | F-Throws |
Off |
Def |
Tot |
PF |
A |
TO |
Blk |
Stl |
Min |
Pts |
|
|
10 |
Forzano, Julianne |
* |
1-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
2 |
|
11 |
Creighton, Austyn |
* |
2-2 | 0-0 | 1-2 |
2 |
3 |
5 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
20 |
5 |
|
34 |
Slater, Carly |
* |
3-10 | 3-9 | 0-0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
24 |
9 |
|
35 |
Stefanow, Laura |
* |
0-2 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
12 |
0 |
|
40 |
Puskarich, Emily |
* |
6-16 | 1-2 | 7-8 |
3 |
5 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
4 |
32 |
20 |
|
04 |
Robb, Haley |
|
4-6 | 4-6 | 0-1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
22 |
12 |
|
21 |
Morris, Mallory |
|
0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
23 |
Scammell, Elizabeth |
|
0-2 | 0-0 | 0-2 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
0 |
|
30 |
Petrini, C.J. |
|
0-3 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
7 |
0 |
|
42 |
Crawshaw, Krista |
|
1-2 | 0-0 | 3-6 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
18 |
5 |
|
TM |
TEAM |
|
0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
Totals.............. |
|
17-46 | 8-17 | 11-19 |
12 |
22 |
34 |
21 |
7 |
17 |
3 |
7 |
160 |
53 |
|
|
37.0% | 47.1% | 57.9% | ||||||||||||
Patriots survive to win AAA state quarterfinal
By Kerry Patrick, Parkersburg News & Sentinel
Players and coaches agreed, Parkersburg South didn't perform a very good rendition of Parkersburg South basketball.
Yet, the Patriots from Wood County managed to survive a Class AAA quarterfinal scare after fending off Wheeling Park. 56-53. Thursday night at the Charleston Civic Center.
The second meeting of the season between the two teams played out quite differently than Jan. 9 when South won by 18 points.
"That was a tough basketball game," South coach Scott Stephens said. "It was a much improved Wheeling Park team versus the first time we played them this year. They came with a lot of heart and hustle.
"On my side, I'm not too happy with my crew. I don't think we gave the effort we needed to at the beginning of the game. They'll hear from me more before the night is over, but the good thing is we still play (Friday)."
Third-ranked South (20-3) advances to today's 9 p.m. semifinal contest against South Charleston (24-1).
"South Charleston is very athletic," Stephens said. "They are a tough matchup because they have six kids who are extremely athletic who can get up and down the floor.
"We just have to play a little better than we did tonight. We have to take care of the basketball, handle their pressure and try to stop dribble penetration."
Wheeling Park, which ends the season at 18-6, fell behind by as many as nine points late in the fourth quarter only to recover and put South on edge down to the final seconds.
Freshman Emily Puskarich hit two buckets and classmate Haley Robb knocked down a trey as part of a 9-2 run which sliced the South advantage to 50-48 with a minute still remaining in regulation.
Following two free throws from South senior Kelsi Halbert, Wheeling Park's only senior on the floor -Carly Slater - nailed a 3-pointer to close the gap to 52-51 at the 46-second mark.
South's Hannah Maston and Kristiana Hunt were both perfect on their two-shot fouls to extend the margin back to 56-51. Puskarich again scored inside with five seconds showing, but the Ohio County Patriots could not find a person to foul as Halbert dribbled out the clock.
South made just two shots from the floor in the fourth quarter, but during that span converted 17-of-22 attempts from the free-throw line.
"That was key," Stephens said. "We won the game at the foul line. We couldn't make a shot anywhere else, but we did shoot the ball pretty well from the foul line."
Jessica Moore led South with 13 points, including eight of the team's first 10 points of the game. Teammate Asia Greenleaf just missed a double-double after finishing with nine points and 13 rebounds, while Halbert added 10 points to go with a team-high six assists.
"We definitely didn't play South basketball," Greenleaf said. "That's not how we practice and been taught to play. We plan to come out 10 times better because that was awful."
Puskarich led all scorers with 20 points, while Robb pitched in 12 points on four 3-pointers. The two first-year players accounted for all the scoring in the first quarter as Wheeling Park took a 10-8 lead.
South did not pull ahead until Halbert's 3-pointer at the end of the first half, leaving her club in front, 26-25.
During a 12minute span lasting midway into the fourth quarter, Wheeling Park made just one field goal and fell behind 42-34. South's lead reached as many as nine points at 48-39 before Wheeling Park made its surge.
"Obviously, very disappointed but very proud of these kids," Wheeling Park coach Meredith Anderson said. "This team knows where they want to be next year and the following year. This was an experience they needed.
"As we've said all year, they don't play like underclassmen. We will be fine and we know that."
South slips past Park
By Michael Polak, Charleston Gazette
As the clock hit triple zeros, Parkersburg South coach Scott Stevens let out a sigh of relief.
South shot just 16-of-53 from the field, but the Patriots hit their final eight foul shots to pull out a 56-53 Class AAA quarterfinal victory over Wheeling Park Thursday night at the Civic Center.
"Wheeling Park played tough basketball, they're much improved from the first time we played them and they came in with a lot of heart and hustle," Stephens said. "They have to be to tickled with the way they played."
"On the other hand, I am not too happy with my crew. I don't think they gave their all, we didn't play very good defense. We hit foul shots, but couldn't shoot from anywhere else."
South, seeded third, advances to play No. 2 South Charleston in the semifinals at 9 tonight.
South seemed to have the game in hand with a 50-43 lead with 1:35 left, but Park freshman Haley Robb drained a 3 from the corner and, after a South turnover, Krista Crenshaw hit two foul shots to pull Park within two at 50-48.
After South's Kelsi Halbert canned two free throws, Park's Carly Slater hit a 3 with 47 seconds left to cut South's lead to 52-51.
"We were really battling out there," Park coach Meredith Anderson said. "This team does not have a lot of quit in them."
"We fell asleep on that play and Slater got loose," Stephens said. "It let them right back into the game."
Park deflected the ensuing inbound pass but the ball flew out of bounds, and South hit four foul shots to get some much-needed breathing room.
Park freshman Emily Puskarich hit a layup with seven seconds left, but South was able to successfully inbound and run the clock out before Park could foul.
"We won the game on the foul line," Stephens said.
Jessie Moore had 13 points and Halbert finished with 10 for Parkersburg South, which held Wheeling Park to just 37-percent shooting and had a 19-5 edge in second-chance points.
"We stressed offensive rebounds to the team," Anderson said, "but they had a big advantage there."
South knocked off Park 69-51 in the regular season Jan. 9 at Parkersburg. Stephens felt Puskarich, who had a game-high 20 points, was a big difference maker.
"Puskarich was a much better ball handler this time around," Stephens said. "She did whatever she wanted against us.
Robb, Park's other freshman, hit four 3-pointers, including a buzzer-beater at the end of the first quarter to give Park a 10-8 lead.
"I wish we'd gone further," Robb said. "But it was a great experience."
Stephens feels South Charleston will be a tough semifinal match up.
"I watched them play Winfield at the MSAC Night of Champions," he said. "They're very athletic, a tough matchup, six kids that can get up and down the court pose a different matchup for us. We just have to play a little better than we did tonight, try to stop the dribble penetration."
Game Recap
WV Metro-News
The last Class
AAA quarterfinal was a battle of the Patriots between both Wheeling Park
and Parkersburg South with Patriots from Parkersburg defeating the
Patriots from the northern panhandle 56-53.
Defense was the key early on in the game as both were being guarded
tightly with Wheeling Park being able to pull away with a slim lead.
Parkersburg South took the lead for under 30 seconds until Emily
Puskarich made a deep three-pointer at the buzzer to end the first
quarter with a 10-8 Wheeling Park lead.
Park was able to keep the lead the entire second quarter until Souths
Kelsi Halbert hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Parkersburg
South a one point halftime lead, 26-25.
The third quarter was just as much of a defensive game as the first two.
The three-pointer by Halbert gave South enough momentum to sustain the
lead throughout the third quarter. They were up 35-30 heading into the
final quarter of play.
The Patriot battle continued to be the closest game of the tournament,
but the inside play of Jessie Moore and Asia Greenleaf made the
difference for South. Moore led the team with 13 points and Greenleaf
led the team in rebounds with 13. South held off a late run by Park
making all six of their free throws in the final minute of play and was
19 of 24 from the foul line in the second half. Park did, however,
manage to get within one in the final minute of play but was unable to
get any closer.
Parkersburg South moves on to play against South Charleston for a shot
at the state championship game with a 56-53 win over Wheeling Park.
Parkersburg South outlasts Wheeling Park
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Jessie Moore scored 13 points and Parkersburg South nearly blew an eight-point late lead but held on for a 56-53 win over Wheeling Park in the girls Class AAA quarterfinals Thursday night.
Kelsi Halbert's 3-pointer just before halftime put third-seeded Parkersburg South ahead to stay, 26-25. Parkersburg South extended the lead to 42-34 on a tip-in by Mary Seagraves midway through the fourth quarter.
Three-pointers by Haley Robb with 1:25 remaining and Carly Slater with 47 seconds left brought Wheeling Park within 52-51.
Parkersburg South's Hannah Maston and Kristiana Hunt made two free throws apiece after that to seal the win.
Emily Puskarich led sixth-seeded Wheeling Park (18-6) with 20 points.
Parkersburg South (20-3) will play No. 2 South Charleston (24-1) in Friday's semifinals.