Dec 29, 2024
Parkersburg’s Audriana Medina (2) handles the ball as Unioto’s Magnolia Holbert defends during Saturday’s game at Ban Johnson Arena. (Photo by Jordan Holland)
Kennedy Porter was unstoppable inside in Parkersburg’s 74-66 win over Unioto in the River City High School Classic Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena.
The PHS junior finished with game-highs of 24 points and 19 rebounds to help the Big Reds improve to 6-1 on the season.
The Shermans, who got 23 points from Milee Smith and 20 more from Mya Hamilton, led 15-14 after a quarter but were outscored 19-12 in the second as the Big Reds took a 33-27 lead into halftime.
PHS, which visits St. Albans Thursday, continued to push the pace and add to its lead in the third quarter. Porter had a putback at the 5:04 mark to make it 40-27 and later assisted Audriana Medina on a 3-pointer to extend the advantage to 47-28.
The Shermans got within seven with 1:30 left in the fourth on Hamilton’s three-point play, but Porter immediately answered with a basket to keep Unioto at arms length.
Fort Frye’s Ella Dowler (32) guards Monroe Central’s Karsyn Muncy (23) during Saturday’s game at Ban Johnson Arena. (Photo by Jordan Holland)
For the Big Reds, who shot 56.6% (30 for 53) from the floor, Lauren Flanagan finished with 19 points and five assists. Frances Guice added 14 points and nine boards while Medina chipped in 11 points, six rebounds and four dimes.
The Shermans got eight points apiece from Magnolia Holbert and Kendal Walker.
Smith, who led UHS with nine rebounds and tallied a game-high five steals, and Porter were selected as each teams’ MVPs.
Marietta 73, Liberty Union 41
The beat rolls on for the Ryan McClain coached Marietta Tigers as they routed Liberty Union 73-41 Saturday in the River City Classic at Ban Johnson Arena to improve to a perfect 10-0 on the season.
Marietta’s Zaiden Wittekind finishes a slam dunk during Saturday’s game against Wheeling Park at Ban Johnson Arena. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
Marietta scored the first 16 points of the game and after surviving a bit of a revival by the Lady Lions in the second quarter went on to cruise to their second win of the Classic.
Liberty Union went on a 19-8 run to actually trim the Tiger lead to five midway thru the second quarter but the Tigers recovered to out-point them 14-4 the rest of the half to open up a 15-point lead at the break.
A three-pointer by Alyssa Baker gave the Tigers a 20-point lead in the third quarter before they finished on a 9-0 run to break things wide open.
Tiger senior Leigha Lauer led five Tiger scorers in double figures with 18 points while also hauling down 8 rebounds.
Junior Hayleigh Chidester and sophomore Braxtyn Kroft both completed double-doubles in the game.
Parkersburg’s Nate Rodriguez goes up for a basket during Saturday’s game against Monroe Central at Ban Johnson Arena. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
Kroft scored 13 points and yanked down 10 boards while Chidester finished with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Baker and fellow senior Jacey McKnight finished with 12 and 10 points respectively for the Tigers who will host a very good Athens team on Friday night.
The Lions (3-6) were led in scoring by Macey Smith with 11, Haeden Brunty with nine and Brooklyn Angello with eight.
Fort Frye 48, Monroe Central 26
After a back and forth first quarter which featured five lead changes, Fort Frye took control in the second.
The Cadets outscored Monroe Central 18-4 in the second period to take a 29-11 lead into halftime and never looked back, winning 48-26 in a River City High School Classic game Saturday at Ban Johnson Arena.
Emmie Duskey led the Cadets (8-1) with 17 points, five steals and three assists. Ava Huffman, whose basket with 51 second left in the first put FFHS up for good, added 10 points.
Huffman opened the game with a layup, but Mayzie Emery, who led the Seminoles with 12 points, answered with a 3-pointer. Ella Dowler, who had 11 points for the Cadets, responded on the other end with a trey to put Fort Frye back on top.
Jacey English, who grabbed a team-high six rebounds for MCHS (7-4), tied the game up with a basket before Jadyn Miller’s jumper put the ‘Noles ahead for the final time at 7-5.
Four straight points by Huffman put head coach Dan Liedtke’s squad up for good.
Triples by Haven Shilling, who had a game-high eight boards, and Dowler helped Fort Frye open the second quarter on an 8-2 run to go up by 10, 19-9. Later, the Cadets closed the half with 10 straight points thanks in part to 3-balls by Duskey, Dowler and Shilling to give them an 18-point advantage at the break.
Fort Frye, which plays host to Shenandoah Monday, limited Monroe to just nine field goals on 38 attempts (23.7%).
BOYS
Marietta 69, Wheeling Park 38
Minutes after the Tiger girls finished off Liberty Union to keep their perfect season alive the Marietta boys took to “The Banjo” floor to take on Wheeling Park looking to do the same.
Much like the girls before them the Tiger boys jumped out to an early lead and only built on it from there as they trounced the Patriots 69-38 to improve to 7-0 on the season.
The Tigers put on an absolute shooting clinic in the first half as they shot a blistering 72 percent from the floor (18-25) including seven-of-eight from behind the arc.
That red-hot shooting and some tenacious Tiger defense allowed them to pull out to a 22-point lead at the half.
Marietta continued to add to their lead in the third quarter as they out-scored Wheeling Park 16-11 to push their lead to 59-32 at the end of three quarters of play.
Marietta was led in scoring by Zaiden Wittekind with 20 while Trey Hawkins added 13.
The Tigers cooled down a bit in the second half but still managed to shoot 58 percent (29-50) for the game.
The Austin Gardner-coached Tigers got a strong performance off of the bench from Owen Riley who finished with 9 points and a team-high five rebounds.
Brayden Jones added eight including a pair of triples which gives him a total of 20 three’s in the Tigers last three contests.
Wheeling Park (1-3) was led in scoring by Sincear Saunders-Paige and J.D. Williams with eight points apiece.
The Tigers will get a few days off before traveling to Pomeroy to take on undefeated Meigs on Friday night.
Monroe Central 84, Parkersburg 56
If Washington County basketball fans weren’t aware of just how good of a basketball team Monroe Central has this season they no doubt are after the Seminoles performances in the Classic.
The Seminoles downed a very good Warren team on Thursday and improved to 7-1 on Saturday when they rolled to an 84-56 win over the Parkersburg Big Reds to close out the three-day event.
Monroe Central shot an incredible 73.5 percent (36-49) in the game including 8-of-12 from behind the arc.
The Seminoles missed on just nine shots from inside the arc in the entire game.
Monroe Central also dominated the boards as they out-rebounded the Big Reds by a 27-8 margin.
The ‘Noles shared the basketball to perfection as evidenced by their 24 assists on 36 made field goals in the game.
Tucker Howell led all scorers with 25 points while also yanking down 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists.
Chance Allen added 16 points and seven rebounds while Jacob Fogle finished with nine on three triples.
Cooper Howell also finished with nine points and six assists for Monroe Central who improved to 7-1 with the win.
The Big Reds struggles continue to begin he season as they slipped to 0-5.
Nate Rodriguez led the way for the Big Reds with 18 points while Quinten Wilson added 13.
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