CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Parkersburg girls basketball coach Chris Murray believes one of his team’s top traits is its ability to remain present.
The Class AAAA No. 2 Big Reds needed to stay in the moment throughout overtime after squandering a 13-point fourth-quarter lead in Thursday’s state quarterfinal against No. 7 University.
In a back-and-forth extra session, the Big Reds’ Amaya Lewis put her team on top with a driving layup with 22 seconds left, and Parkersburg clamped down on the Hawks with time winding down to force a challenged three-pointer and escape with a 71-70 victory at the Charleston Coliseum.
“We were able to stay composed and finish the way we needed to,” Murray said. “We were never really rattled. We were focused on the next play.”
Were it not for a three-pointer from UHS reserve Cheyanne Bishoff with 7.1 seconds remaining in regulation, the Big Reds (17-6) almost certainly would’ve prevailed in regulation.
Instead, Bishoff made her lone field goal extremely meaningful, and the matchup went to overtime tied at 63.
Despite losing the lead, Murray tried to remain positive and reminded his team the Hawks would no longer be playing with Whitney Cox or Taylor Vanscoy.
“Two of their starters had fouled out. We felt pretty good about going into overtime,” Murray said.
The entirety of the extra session was played with one possession, and the Big Reds led 66-64 following a Frances Guice triple.
University’s first field goal of OT came courtesy of an Isabella Hall jumper with 2:11 remaining, and Hall went 2 for 2 on free throws 29 seconds later to leave her team with a three-point advantage.
Lucie Cline split two free throws at the 1:11 mark to make it a two-point game, and after an exchange of turnovers and another Big Reds’ defensive stop, Guice scored near from close range to tie it at 69.
Hawks’ guard Bri Fox then made the second of two free throws with just inside 30 seconds left, but Lewis got a high percentage look at converted on the other end for her lone basket.
“We always practice running the floor, and I did as I’m told, ran the floor and got a layup,” Lewis said.
Out of a UHS timeout with 8 seconds left, Fox was swarmed and couldn’t get off a high percentage look, instead hoisting a deep and contested three that was well off the mark as time expired.
“I told these girls my emotions are a mix of joy and sadness,” UHS coach Sammy Lusk said. “Joy because I’m so dang proud of these girls. Nobody gave us a chance and we were right there with a chance to do it. An overwhelming feeling of being blessed to be in this situation. A lot of teams at home don’t get to be part of this.”
The result sends the Big Reds to a semifinal Friday against Morgantown.
Parkersburg started strong and made eight first-quarter field goals in the opening period, which featured nine points and eight rebounds from Kennedy Porter along with nine points from Guice to help build a 21-12 lead.
The advantage increased to 35-21 at halftime as the Hawks (14-8) struggled to find an answer for Porter, who continued to dominant inside and had 13 points and 17 boards at the break. In turn, the Big Reds had a 31-21 rebounding edge.
“Going into the game, all my coaches told me my job was to go after the ball and get boards,” Porter said. “I got a lot of putbacks off of that and it stretched the gap early. My job personally was to grab every board I can.”
Fox and Whitney Cox combined for 14 of University’s 16 third-quarter points, but Parkersburg got an additional nine points and five rebounds from Porter, who made 4-of-4 field-goal attempts in the frame and helped her team maintain its distance and enter the fourth in front, 50-37.
But UHS made 6-of-9 threes and 10-of-14 shots in a 26-point fourth quarter, and when Cox connected from long range with 3:38 left in regulation, Parkersburg’s lead was 56-51.
“We lost our heads a bit in the second half trying to find shooters, but credit University, because they shot with confidence in the second half,” Murray said.
Fox followed with a triple 16 seconds later to make it a two-point game, then scored off a Big Reds’ turnover to tie the game at 56 at the 2:57 mark.
“My teammates want it as much as I do,” Fox said, “and I wanted to step up so we could advance.”
While University didn’t gain its first lead since 4-2 until overtime, the Hawks kept it a one-possession margin, setting the stage for Bishoff to tie it.
Porter was a force and finished with 24 points and 24 rebounds — a Class AAAA state tournament single game mark.
Guice scored 22 points and Lauren Flanagan added 10 with five assists in the win.
Fox led all players with 32 points, 24 of which she scored after halftime. Cox contributed 19 points and six steals.
“If Bri Fox isn’t a first-team all-state player, I don’t know who is after that performance,” Lusk said. “All year, she was consistent.”