WEIRTON - For the second game in a row, Madonna's No. 1 state ranked Blue Dons made a strong fourth quarter scoring blitz to come from behind for a win. This time it was against the state's fourth ranked Class A team, Parkersburg Catholic, and while the final score-70-53-looks like a blowout, the Crusaders held the lead with a little more than five minutes left to go in the game.
Madonna's Cleveland State recruit, Clay Rokisky, playing with an injury to his right (shooting) shoulder, ignited the blitz with three straight goals in 38 seconds to pull the Blue Dons from a 49-48 deficit to a 55-49 lead. Rokisky, an All-West Virginia 6-4 forward, scored 11 points in the fourth quarter and 16 in the game.
"I think the key was we made an adjustment at halftime," said victorious coach George Vargo. "We made everyone responsible for their own man in the second half. In the first half, we were doing a lot of switching and getting lost so Parkersburg had open shots and to their credit they made them.
"Another thing is that I think we wore them down a little bit in the second half. I was able to rotate some players in and give our guys some rest and I think that made a difference."
Vargo, whose team improved to 4-1, praised the defense played by Rokisky, who was assigned to guard Parkersburg Catholic's Dan Collie.
"Everyone keeps looking at Clay's offensive side, but for two games in a row now he has guarded the other team's best shooting guard and held them to a low total."
Collie finished with four points.
The Crusaders, who effectively used a two, three zone to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room at the half,, made 10 of 23 shots in the first half. Thirteen of those shots were from three-point range and they made seven of them. However, with the Madonna defensive adjustment, Parkersburg Catholic (5-2) made only one more from behind the arc in the second half.
Roane County 78,
Sherman 42
SPENCER - Hunter Bradley and Willie Bowman both had a double-double as Roane County defeated Sherman 78-42 on Tuesday night.
Bradley scored 15 of his 17 points as Roane County (3-3) built a 41-16 halftime lead. Bradley also had 12 rebounds, while Bowman finished with 11 points and 10 boards, which marked his fourth double-double of the season.
Ravenswood 76,
Tyler Consolidated 62
KIDWELL -Ben Pannell completed his double-double of 30 points and 13 rebounds as Ravenswood defeated Tyler Consolidated 76-62 on Tuesday night.
Teammate Zach Martin followed suit with 19 points and 13 boards, while Jeremy Lawrence pitched in 11 points for the 3-2 Red Devils.
Darren Heintzman led Tyler (1-9) with 23 points and 10 rebounds, while Evan Cline added nine points and nine assists.
Wahama 74, Eastern 54
MASON -Isaac Lee scored his 1,000th career point as Wahama defeated Eastern 74-54 on Tuesday night.
Lee led the White Falcons (3-5) with 26 points and 11 rebounds, while Austin Jordan contributed 16 points and four assists.
Kirk Pullins led Eastern (4-2) with 15 points.
Magnolia 61, Oak Glen 29
NEW MARTINSVILLE -A third-quarter explosion carried Magnolia past Oak Glen 61-29 on Tuesday night.
Magnolia outscored Oak Glen 25-5 in the first eight minutes after intermission and increased its advantage to 49-17.
Mark Winters led the Blue Eagles (7-1) with 22 points and Hunter Campbell added 14 points.
Caldwell 45, Frontier 32
NEW MATAMORAS - Caldwell collected 21 steals and forced Frontier into 30 turnovers while taking just 28 shots as the Redskins picked up a 45-32 win at Frontier High School.
While Frontier ended up shooting 43 percent from the field, six percent better than Caldwell, the Cougars struggled to get the ball upcourt against the Redskins.
In every quarter except the fourth the Cougars had more turnovers than shots taken from the field, and in the fourth quarter they were even with nine turnovers and nine field goal attempts.
High School Girls
Parkersburg South 59, Brooke 16
WELLSBURG -Parkersburg South ambushed Brooke Tuesday night and pulled away for a 59-16 victory.
Jenna McAtee scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the first half as South built a 32-5 cushion.
Keya Bartlett added nine points as the Patriots improved to 5-3.
Parkersburg Catholic 49, Charleston Catholic 45
CHARLESTON -For the second time this season, Parkersburg Catholic defeated Charleston Catholic. On Tuesday night, the Crusaderettes prevailed 49-45.
Leah Hughes led PCHS (8-2) with 13 points, while Samantha Fletcher paced Charleston Catholic (2-6) with 13 points.
The Crusaderettes trailed 35-28 then outscored Charleston Catholic 21-10 in the fourth quarter.
St. Marys 66,
Doddridge County 38
ST. MARYS -With St. Marys trailing by two points after one quarter Beverly Knight triggered a spark for the Blue Devils, who defeated Doddridge County 66-38 on Tuesday night.
Knight knocked down a 3-pointer and made a layup after picking off a Doddridge pass in the early stages of the second quarter then finished scoring seven of her 11 points in the period.
Audra Clark led St. Marys (8-1) with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Wood County
Christian 57,
Parkersburg Christian 18
PARKERSBURG -The Wood County Christian junior varsity team recovered from a two-point deficit at the end of the first quarter and defeated Parkersburg Christian 57-18 on Tuesday night.
WCCS trailed 8-6 before outscoring Parkersburg Christian 51-10 in the final three quarters. Rachel Rubel led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Lexi Gutberlet added 10 points.
Lydia Palmer and Hanah Bowser each scored six points to pace Parkersburg Christian (2-2).
Wirt County 54,
Calhoun County 18
ELIZABETH -Wirt County's Hannah Nichols matched Calhoun County's total output as the Tigers defeated the Red Devils 54-18 on Tuesday night.
Nichols finished with 18 points, while Miriam Smith tossed in 10 points for the 5-6 Tigers.
