Parkersburg South     13  20  14  08  =  55
Capital                        19  11  12  20  =  62

South Scoring:  Ali Morris 15, Taylor Phillips 15, Danielle Floyd 10, Kim Stephens 6, Sarah Harvey 4, Asia Greenleaf 4, Kara Longwell 1.

Capital Scoring:  Shawnice Garland 20, Shawnita Garland 18, Reynolds 12, Gardner 5, Mitchell 2, Tyler 2, Rhim 2, Bowlsley 1.

Junior Varsity - Parkersburg South 73, Capital 70 (2OT)

Parkersburg South  11 14  06  20  13  09  =  73

Capital                   19  10 13  09  13  06  =  70

South Scoring:  Kelsi Halbert 14, Mary Seagraves 13, Amber Shreeves 11, Jessica Gilkeson 11, MacKenzie Borgeois 5, Sammy Hicks 4, Asia Greenleaf 4, Katelyn Porter 4, Kara Longwell 3, Sarah Beha 2, Dani Haverty 2.

Capital Scoring:  L. Harris 25, M. Harris 18, Titcher 9, Jemisson 8, Rhim 5, Gardner 5.

Girls Basketball Local Summaries, Parkersburg News & Sentinel

Shawnita Garland scored 10 of her 18 points in the fourth quarter here Saturday afternoon as No. 3 Capital rallied for a 62-55 victory against No. 2 Parkersburg South in a battle of Class AAA powers.

Shawnice Garland tallied a game-high 20 points for the Cougars (4-1), who trailed 33-30 at halftime and 47-42 entering the final eight minutes of play.

While Capital canned 23-of-29 foul shots, the defending state champion Patriots (4-1) were off the mark on 16-of-27 charity attempts.

Taylor Phillips led Parkersburg South with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Patriot Ali Morris made a trio of 3-pointers and also finished with 15 points while Danielle Floyd chipped in 10 counters.

Chaunte Reynolds contributed 12 points and six rebounds for the victors. Morris had nine rebounds, three assists and three steals.

Capital slays South 62-55
By Tommy Atkinson, Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail

Capital’s Shawnita Garland gave her teammates an early Christmas gift Saturday afternoon.

The 5-foot-6 senior guard sliced through Parkersburg South’s pressure in the fourth quarter to score 10 of her 18 points to lead the Cougars to a 62-55 victory. A crowd of about 300 attended the battle of Class AAA state-ranked teams at Capital High School.

Capital (4-1), which is ranked third in the Associated Press preseason poll, has lost to No. 2 and defending state champion South (4-1) in the regional finals the last three seasons, falling one game short of a state tournament berth. South escaped last year with a 68-63 double-overtime win.

The Cougars’ last victory over South was a 68-53 decision on Dec. 30, 2004, in the title game of the Patriots’ own holiday tournament. The Cougars had dropped three straight to South heading into Saturday.

“We needed to know in our heart that we can play well and that we can defeat [South],’’ said Capital coach Steve Freeman. “We needed to know that.’’

Capital entered the fourth quarter trailing 47-42 and was in need of a spark. The Cougars sliced their deficit to one point (51-50) with 5:37 left behind a 6-0 run. Senior all-state player Taylor Phillips sank the back end of a two-shot foul to give South its final lead of the game at 52-50 with 5:21 to go.

Then Garland took control, tallying her team’s next nine points. Garland flew in for layup after dribbling through full-court pressure to knot the game at 52-all with 5:13 left, then she sank a jumper to hand Capital the lead for good at 54-52 with 3:38 remaining.

After South pulled to 54-53 with 3:22 to go, Garland nailed a 3-pointer then followed that up by hitting two free throws for a 59-53 lead at the 1:21 mark.

“I was just getting frustrated and told myself to calm down so I could get back into the game,’’ said Garland, who had eight points coming into the final quarter. “[South was] stopping me on the drives so I figured I’d shoot and then I hit one and they started coming out on me so I drove.’’

The closest the Patriots would get the rest of the way was four points (59-55) on sophomore Danielle Floyd’s layup with 1:06 left, but. Shawnice and Shawnita Garland combined to sink 3-of-4 free-throw attempts to set the final margin with 15.3 seconds to go. Capital outscored South 20-8 in the final period and sank 9-of-10 foul shots.

“[Shawnita] Garland stepped it up and they started playing a little tougher [in the fourth quarter],’’ said South coach Scott Stephens of Capital. “I thought we were putting pressure on them early and we had a few turnovers off our press. They made some nice adjustments during a couple of timeouts in the fourth quarter and took that advantage away from us.’’

Shawnita Garland also proved with Saturday’s performance that she, too, is capable of carrying Capital in late-game situations. Twin Shawnice Garland, a first-team all-state player last season, is usually the one providing the late-game heroics. The sisters have signed with Division I Cleveland State.

“It makes me feel better about myself [when I can help the team],’’ said Shawnita Garland.

“Shawnita has always been capable of doing that,’’ added Freeman. “Shawnita is such an unselfish player. We have talked to her about needing to look for her shot and she’s reluctant to do that. [Saturday] was a big game and she stepped up.’’

Shawnita Garland, who made 6-of-14 shots, added six rebounds. Shawnice Garland tallied a game-high 20 points despite sitting out the entire second quarter because of foul trouble. Shawnice Garland made 6-of-16 shots from the floor and all seven foul shots, and chipped in six rebounds, three assists, three steals and two blocked shots. Senior Chaunte Reynolds added 12 points and six boards.

Capital only made 34 percent of its shots (18-of-53) and just 3-of-13 from 3-point range, but converted 23-of-29 free throws. South fared worse with its shooting touch, canning only 31.2 percent (19-of-61) from the floor and missing 16 foul shots (11-of-27).

Senior Taylor Phillips, also a first-team all-state pick, led South with 15 points and 10 rebounds, but hit only 6-of-20 from the floor and misfired on seven of eight 3-pointers. Junior Ali Morris finished with 15 points, including a 3-of-5 effort from 3-point range, and landed nine boards and sophomore Danielle Floyd had 10 points, four boards and four assists.