ELLENBORO, W.Va. — Ellie Kinnison helped ensure Parkersburg Catholic got off to a strong start Monday night against Tolsia in the Cowan-Spangler Memorial Holiday Tournament at Ritchie County.
Kinison’s teammates then did their part for the Crusaderettes to continue expanding on the advantage as they rolled to a 73-38 victory over the Rebels.
The result sends PCHS (5-1) to the title game of the event Tuesday night at host Ritchie, which defeated Parkersburg Christian, 81-32, in Monday’s nightcap behind a single-game school record 41-point performance from Elsa Law.
As for Parkersburg Catholic, it ran off the first 12 points and led 20-2 less than 5 minutes into its matchup with Tolsia.
“That’s how you want to come out and how you start a game is most important,” said PCHS head coach Bob Carr.
Kinnison made four three-pointers as well as a midrange jump shot during that time, accounting for all but six of her team’s points to leave the Rebels facing a decisive deficit.
“Ellie’s as good a shooter as there is and when you get her going, it helps,” Carr said. “These girls all support each other and they feed off each other’s excitement. That happened tonight and everybody was behind her. She had the hot hand and we found a way to get it to her.”
Facing full court pressure that proved problematic for most of the contest, Tolsia (3-5) settled in over the final few minutes of the opening frame and got five points from Olivia Kelly to cut its deficit to 24-11.
Piper Pack accounted for the Rebels’ first two field goals of the second quarter, the latter of which left them trailing 26-15.
The Crusaderettes countered with nine unanswered points for the first 20-point lead after Kinnison’s fifth triple made it 35-15.
Caroline Wynn’s trey provided the final points of the opening half and left PCHS with a 40-18 advantage at halftime.
The Rebels had 18 off their 29 turnovers through the first two quarters, and as a result, they went to the break with 18 field-goal attempts to Parkersburg Catholic’s 34.
“That’s what we want. That’s the way the game is played today. I always tell people, ‘I’m not smart enough to coach a half court game.’ The girls go out and play and they’ll react to whatever,” Carr said. “They really enjoy playing.”
The Crusaderettes began the second half much like they started the game and utilized an 11-1 spurt to lead by 32.
Tolsia played well over the final 4 minutes of the third to trail 55-29 through three, but the deficit was no less than 26 in the fourth.
Kinnison led all players with 22 points and made five of her team’s nine threes. She shot 8 for 11 in the win.
Bryley Starkey added 15 points and a game-high eight rebounds in the win, while teammate Macy Singer finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists. Seneca Lang scored 10 to make it four in double figures for PC.
Parkersburg Catholic had a 39-24 rebounding edge in its fifth consecutive win.
Pack led Tolsia with nine points.