CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Parkersburg South girls basketball coach Ed Davis hardly cares that his team lacks experience compared to many of its opponents.
The Patriots seem to have a similar sentiment, and a squad with only two seniors and two juniors as well as three freshmen in its starting five defeated top seed George Washington, 51-43, in overtime Friday to secure a spot in the Class AAAA final.
“I don’t think about them being freshmen anymore. They’re just basketball players,” Davis said.
No. 5 PSHS (20-5) was in perilous position late in regulation and trailed 39-33 when Emilee Owens came up with a clean steal and found freshman teammate Quinn Bolyard for a three-pointer that made it a one-possession game with 1:22 remaining in regulation.
“I just saw everyone fumbling around with the ball and I thought I had to find the open area,” Owens said. “When I saw the other team come away with it, I thought maybe I could get in front of her, but I stuck my hand out and there it was. Then I looked up and saw Quinn.”
She wasn’t done with the late heroics, and after fellow freshman Lindsey Logston came up with a steal on the next GW (25-2) possession, Bolyard tied it with a corner three with 1:02 remaining.
“I was pretty cold in the first half and I looked at Emilee walking out of the locker room at halftime, and said, ‘this is our half, we’re knocking them down,’” Bolyard said. “In the first half, I was kind of thinking about it. Later on, I wasn’t thinking about it and was just trying to have fun.”
Neither team scored the rest of regulation, sending the contest to an extra session tied at 39.
PSHS carried its momentum into OT, which began with Logston turning a steal into a transition layup that put her team on top to stay.
“There’s a lot of people out there and pressure, and at times we handled it well, and at times, we didn’t,” GW coach Jamie LaMaster said.
Bolyard made another trey 1:16 into the extra period, and after Owens, a senior, made two free throws at the 2:18 mark, Davis’ team had scored 13 unanswered points and led by seven.
Rayana Breckenridge put an end to the run with two free throws for GW and she made 1-of-2 attempts 40 seconds later to make it a four-point margin.
Parkersburg South made 3-of-4 free throws the rest of the way, and continued to effectively utilize a zone defense that held GW without a field goal in OT.
“Our assistant coach Garry Harvey does all the zone work with them every day,” Davis said. “I just stay out of the way and tell them to hustle. He deserves all the credit with that. They’re such a tough guard with Pryor and Breckenridge and then you help and they kick it out to one of the three-point shooters.”
The Patriots stretches of the fourth quarter and overtime without guard Jeriyah Pryor, who appeared to be battling a foot injury hours after she was named Gatorade Player of the Year in West Virginia.
“It’s tough, but we had some experience with that from five games in the regular season,” LaMaster said.
But even with Pryor, GW had a tough time shaking a team it defeated by 20 in the regular season.
Owens scored five first-quarter points and the PSHS was plenty effective, holding GW to 2-for-14 shooting. Both GW field goals were threes, as were all but four of the shots attempted.
Parkersburg South led 18-16 at halftime, but GW put together its best stretch in the third quarter, which began with a Breckenridge trey.
Pryor scored five straight points later in the period, which combined with a layup from freshman Zi’keryah Myers, allowed GW to lead 28-20 — the largest advantage of the night.
But PSHS scored the last three points of the third on free throws to close to within four and hung around long enough in the fourth to give itself a chance late.
“I don’t think I’ve been around a team that’s been as resilient and played the next play like these young ladies do,” Davis said. “That’s why they’re still playing. They’re a special group of young ladies. It looked a couple times in the second half like we were probably left for dead.”
Bolyard led all players with 18 points. She had 14 points and four threes after halftime.
Owens scored 14 points and Logston had five of her team’s eight steals.
Pryor scored 16 points and had six steals. Breckenridge added 13.
GW shot 14 for 54 and 4 for 26 from long range, while LaMaster suffered his eighth loss in as many state semifinal games.
“He did what I would do to a GW team in the Civic Center,” LaMaster said. “He went to an odd front zone and we went to a 4 out. We wanted to try to attack the gaps and get it opposite or turn, face and attack the rim. The issue at the end of the day is 14 for 54 and 4 for 26 from the three-point line.”
Parkersburg South will play the winner of Parkersburg-Morgantown in the final.