CHARLESTON, W.Va. — With George Washington leading Parkersburg by four points and 5:10 remaining in the fourth quarter of Wednesday’s Class AAAA quarterfinal, Patriots’ sophomore Jeriyah Pryor stepped to the free-throw line out of a timeout.
The guard missed both foul shots, leaving the door open for the Big Reds to complete a rally after they had charged back from an 11-point deficit late in the third quarter.
Or so Parkersburg thought.
Instead, Pryor rebounded a Big Reds’ missed shot on the ensuing possession, went coast-to-coast for a basket, followed it with a jumper 21 seconds later and assisted a Leah Hoston three-pointer with 3:29 remaining during a pivotal 7-0 spurt that went a long way in helping the Patriots advance with a 59-50 victory at the Charleston Coliseum.
“I have to keep a next-play mentality,” Pryor said, “and do my part to keep the energy up.”
The result sends No. 6 GW (15-8) to a state semifinal and allows the Patriots to avenge a 13-point regular season loss to PHS.
Pryor paced the Patriots throughout, scoring 17 of her game-high 28 points in the opening half of a contest her team never trailed in. She also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds in the win, including six on the offensive end.
“We don’t really have a big. Rebounds matter, because that’s more possessions for us and we can get it out to our teammates,” Pryor said.
While Pryor failed to add to her team’s lead when she missed the two fourth-quarter free throws, LaMaster feared he could be without his star player down the stretch due to right arm pain that caused Pryor to have it heavily wrapped during a postgame media session.
“She was crying. I thought she was really hurt,” LaMaster said. “She couldn’t move her arm. I got a sub up and she pushed back, and said, ‘I got them.’ She missed the free throws, but the toughness it takes to do that on this stage, it says a lot.”
The Patriots’ free-flowing offensive style paid dividends throughout much of the opening half. GW made half of its 10 three-point attempts in the opening quarter to build an 18-7 lead, forcing Parkersburg (17-8) to play catch-up.
Pryor made two of those five treys, while teammates Mattison Sosebee, Rayana Breckenridge and Nasiya Smith accounted for one apiece.
“They were just about 50 percent from three in the first half. We kind of dug ourselves a hole, but that’s a credit to the way they shot,” PHS head coach Chris Murray said.
The Big Reds picked up their offensive production throughout the second quarter and were to within 20-16 4:54 before halftime on the strength of Ellie Kinnison’s five straight points.
But the Patriots continued their sizzling perimeter shooting and a pair of triples from Leah Hoston in a 54-second span allowed GW to maintain its lead. Pryor then scored her team’s last six points of the half to help the Patriots lead 34-25 at the intermission.
“She’s hit some threes this year, but she picked a great day to hit some really timely shots,” LaMaster said of Hoston.
While GW went without a three in the third quarter, the Patriots were in front by double digits for a long stretch of the frame, including at 46-36 when Sosebee split two free throws at the 1:09 mark.
The Big Reds answered with close range baskets from Sophie Lott and Kennedy Porter to pull to within six after three, and that same duo accounted for the first four points of the final frame to make it an 8-0 run altogether and bring PHS to within two.
“We’re never out of it or worried about what’s going on,” Murray said. “We were going to find something until it worked and until we could get stops and conversions.”
But Murray’s team then went more than 3 minutes without scoring, and by the time it did again on a Porter layup with 3:12 left, the deficit was 55-46.
“We told them they’re going to make a run at us. To their credit, they really maintained their composure and took what the defense was giving them,” LaMaster said.
PHS never got closer than eight the rest of the way.
Pryor made 12-of-19 shots.
“She’s tough as nails man,” Murray said. “Reading her lips coming off the court it looked like she said, ‘I broke my arm.’ We have a ton of respect for the way she plays. She showed some really good emotion to rally around her team. She’s certified herself as the go-to person for her team. She deserves it. She’s worked really hard.”
Breckenridge added 10 points, six assists and four steals. Hoston also scored 10 and Smith contributed seven points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
“Their role players hit some really big shots for them. We dared them to,” Murray said.
Porter led Parkersburg with 17 points and 15 rebounds and made 8-of-12 shots. The rest of the Big Reds combined to shoot 12 for 53.