Cover photo by: @millissajillg
By Rich Stevens
Katelyn Byrd poured in 24 points and went over the 1,000-point mark for her career and Anna Hayton added 23 to lead fourth-seeded Parkersburg South to a 79-37 rout of No. 5 Martinsburg in the Class AAA girls state basketball tournament quarterfinals on Wednesday at the Charleston Civic Center.
The Bulldogs (19-5) had 34 turnovers, leading to 47 points for Parkersburg South, which will face Morgantown (23-1) in the 5:30 p.m. semifinals on Friday.
Parkersburg South is seeking its fourth consecutive trip to the title game, with a 2013 championship win over Logan and back-to-back championship game defeats to Morgantown.
This is the first time since that the Patriots will try to do it without star point guard Taryn McCutcheon, the Michigan State recruit who transferred nine weeks ago to East Lansing High (Michigan), in the same city of her college destination.
It’s also the third time in four meetings against the Mohigans this season South will be without McCutcheon. Morgantown is 3-0 in the series this season, winning by an average of 18.3 points. In the first game with McCutcheon running the point, Morgantown won 55-41 on Dec. 17.
“We’ve had some adversity on our team this year and adversity builds character,” South coach Scott Stephens said. “I’m proud of how they pulled together.”
The starting point guard position now belongs to junior Jordan Johnson, whose modest 6.8 average contributes to South’s success, but has helped the Patriots keep their stride at the one position. Johnson had eight assists and only one turnover against Martinsburg.
“I’m really excited,” Johnson said. “I feel like it’s all in our head. I think if we come ready to play I think we’re a good matchup for them.”
Martinsburg was no match for South, leading for the last time with 4:07 left in the first quarter (7-6) before the Patriots reeled off 21 of the next 25 points.
“Once we got to where we could score and our press … we couldn’t press until we started scoring,” said Stephens, whose team forced 21 turnovers in the first half when it led 40-16.
Ciera Hertelendy had 13 points and nine rebounds to lead Martinsburg, which won the rebounding battle 51-43 between teams that combined for 87 missed shots.
“The press bothered us,” said Martinsburg coach Wes Hall, whose team saw an 11-game winning streak come to an abrupt halt. “The turnovers are twice what we average. They are physical and long, they don’t give you any breathing room.”
Now, the Patriots will look ahead to Morgantown, their nemesis from the north that is seeking its third consecutive state championship.
Stephens said his team won’t settle for what occurred in the first three meetings this season.
“We’re going to do some different things,” he said. “But, I’m not going to give that up. You’ll have to come watch and see. We got nothing to lose. They beat us three times this year. We’re tired of playing them. We play them too often. This is an opportunity.”
