Parkersburg South  19   25   15   15    =  74

Fairmont                  8     8    15   10    =  41

South Scoring:   Stephens 32, Floyd 13, Blair 7, Shreeves 6, Harvey 5, Wolfe 5, Curry 4, Harbour 1, Tackett 1.

Fairmont Scoring:    Jones 13, Robinson 9, Tennant 6, Miller 3, Rexroad 2, Conrad 2, Whiteman 2, Crigler 2.

South Statistics:   Shooting, 26-77 (33.8%);   Rebounds, 39 (Stephens 15);  Steals, 18 (Harvey 6);   Assists, 19 (Curry 6, Floyd 6);  Turnovers, 13.

JV:   Parkersburg South 59, Fairmont Senior 34

South leading scorers:   Shreeves 13, Crislip 10, Meadows 10, Nutter 10.

 

Patriots roll over Bears

West Fairmont’s Dominic Jones (5) tries to back down Parkersburg South’s Ashley Curry during the Polar Bears’ loss to the Patriots to open the season. - PHOTO BY TAMMY SHRIVER FAIRMONT By Mike Bowen Fairmont Times, West Virginian No. 4 Parkersburg South spoils West girls’ opener with 74-41 victory The first game of the 2003-04 campaign could be described as a learning experience for the West Fairmont girls’ basketball team. Preseason No. 4 Parkersburg South ran away with a 74-41 victory over the No. 12 Polar Bears in the first game of the season for each team. The Patriots took the early lead and never looked back while rolling over the young Polar Bears. West Fairmont coach Steven Parks has only one returning starter in Whitney Robinson. “They (Parkersburg South) are very good team,” Parks said. “For our first game this was a tough challenge for us because we are a young team.” Parkersburg built up a huge lead on the Polar Bears in the first half, leading by 28 points when the teams broke for halftime. But the Bears came out of the locker room strong and dropped in 15 points in the third, their highest output of the game to try to close the gap, but it was too late. The Patriots continued to take it to the young West Fairmont team and sealed the win with another 15 points in the fourth. The Bears had only one double-digit scorer in the game but were starting to find some rhythm in the second half. West held the Patriots to 30 points in the second half after falling behind 44-16 at halftime. “We want to look at that third quarter for our positive,” Parks said. “I told the girls that they had the same girls in there that they did in the first half and we played right with them.” The Patriots’ big center Jill Stephens led all scorers with 32 points, while Polar Bear guard Dominic Jones led West with 13 points, including two 3-pointers. Robinson had nine points on the night. The Patriots’ Heidi Floyd also scored 13 to help lead Parkersburg South. One positive for Parks was the return of Emily Whiteman to the lineup. Whiteman missed nearly the entire season last year after injuring her knee in the season opener. She finished with two points in her first game back. “We are a young team,” Parks said. “It is going to take a while to get things going. I really only have one starter back in Whitney because Emily only played one game for us last year. So it is going to take some time.” The Polar Bears (0-1) will return to action on Friday when they travel to take on the Huntington Highlanders, who were ranked No. 14 in the preseason poll.