Parkersburg, WV -

Bridgeport               12   09 19  07  =  47

Parkersburg South   16  15  10  19  =  60

South Scoring:  Jessica Moore 16, Sammy Hicks 11, Mary Seagraves 11, Kelsi Halbert 7, Kristiana Hunt 6, Hannah Maston 5, Hannah Smith 4.

Bridgeport Scoring:  Mullins 12, Small 12, Hadsell 5, Glenn 4, Farkanovsky 3, Hamner 3, Farley 3, Childers 3, Marshall 2.

South Statistics:  Rebounds, 40 (Seagraves 11, Moore 10, Hicks 6);  Assists, 17 (Halbert 10);  Steals, 10 (Halbert, Hicks, Hunt 3);  Blocks, 4 (Hicks 2);  Turnovers, 15;  Free-Throw Shooting, 14-18 (78%)

Bridgeport Statistics:  Turnovers, 18;  Free-Throw Shooting, 11-18 (61%).

Junior Varsity

Bridgeport               06  07  12  11  =  36

Parkersburg South   18  09  15  13  =  55

South Scoring:   Genna Trippett 12, Allison Parsons 10, Katelyn Hamilton 9, Kayla Dixon 6, Carmen Cutlip 5, Jenna McAtee 5, Alexis Howell 4, Mary Lewis 4.

South Statistics:  Rebounds, 29 (Cutlip 7);  Assists, 15 (Lewis 5, McAtee 4);  Steals, 26 (Hamilton 7, Lewis 5);  Turnovers, 22.

Bridgeport Statistics: Turnovers, 38.

Defense carries South past Bridgeport

Moore leads Patriots with 16 points

PARKERSBURG-No. 4 Parkersburg South squandered a 10-point, 31-21, halftime advantage over visiting Bridgeport Tuesday night at the Rod Oldham Activity Center. But, when the team needed to play shutdown defense it did as the Patriots opened the 2009-10 season with a 60-47 victory.

"We can play some good defense," veteran Patriots head coach Scott Stephens said. "And, we did play a lot better defense at the beginning of the fourth."

Bridgeport (0-1) closed to within one, 41-40, thanks to a 19-10 edge in the third quarter. But, the Indians found the going tough to open the fourth as the visitors misfired on their first six shots of the frame and made only 1-of-3 attempts from the charity stripe through the first five minutes.

Parkersburg South, which plays host to its own Tip-Off Classic beginning Friday, took advantage of the Indians' dry spell, putting together a 15-1 run to turn the game into a rout with 2:37 left to play.

Doing most of the damage for the red, white and blue were seniors Jessica Moore and Mary Seagraves. The duo combined for 11 of the Patriots' 19 points in the frame.

Senior Kristiana Hunt got things rolling for the hosts with a 2-for-2 effort at the free throw line just 32 seconds into the period. Moore, who led all scorers with 16 points and also pulled down 10 rebounds, followed with a bucket before Seagraves tallied the next five points on a trey and a rebound bucket.

Parkersburg South continued to pull away as Moore canned another deuce followed by a pair of free throws from Sammy Hicks and Kelsi Halbert, who dished out a game-high 10 assists on the night.

Bridgeport, which was paced by 12 points apiece from Kelsey Mullins and Courtney Small, finally hit a shot when junior Kristy Akers canned a trey at the 2:15 mark.

Both teams started slowly as the Indians jumped out to an 8-4 lead halfway through the opening quarter. However, Parkersburg South fought back behind the play of Hicks and Seagraves to score 12 of the quarter's final 16 points to forge a four-point, 16-12, lead.

"I knew it was going to be a slow start because during the introductions I looked over at the bench and all I could see were 10 legs shaking," said Stephens. "There were a lot of nerves and it showed early."

The hosts continued to take advantage of their size advantage inside in the second frame, outscoring their guests by six points, 15-9, to head to the locker room at the intermission ahead by 10, 31-21.

"It was your normal opening game," said the coach. "We saw a lot of good things out of our kids and we saw some things that we will have to work on before Friday's game."

In addition to Moore's game-high 16, the Patriots received 11 points each from Seagraves and Hicks while Halbert chipped in with seven points and Hunt had six.

Charleston Gazette Round-Up

PARK. SOUTH 60, BRIDGEPORT 47: Parkersburg South used a 19-7 run in the fourth quarter to ice a win at home in both teams' season debuts. Jessie Moore poured in 16 points for the Patriots to lead all scorers. Mary Seagraves and Sammy Hicks added 11 points each.