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Parkersburg South High School Athletics

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South travels to PHS to take on Sectional Rival

SOUTH TRAVELS TO PHS TO TAKE ON SECTIONAL RIVAL

PARKERSBURG — Host Parkersburg High School and first-year head coach Scott Cozzens will welcome in rival Parkersburg South for tonight’s game inside Memorial Fieldhouse, but don’t expect the Big Reds to be in a good mood. PHS dropped to 5-2 on the campaign following a tough 63-49 loss on Thursday at Waterford. Tonight’s projected starting five of Madi Mace, Maddi Leggett, Shay-Lee Kirby, Bre Wilson and Aleea Crites tallied all of the red and white’s points against the Wildcats. “We’ve finally got people back from twisted ankles and knees and the flu. We are finally somewhat healthy,” said Cozzens, who hopes to get some bench production from the likes of Maggie Richards, Tavien Clark, Emily Kupfner and Madison Spears. “I expect a good game, but we got to stop turning the ball over. We are turning the ball over 20 times a game and that’s killing us against good teams. Being a young team, you are going to make mistakes. We got to live with it, but we have to learn from it and see if we can correct it.” Parkersburg South hasn’t played since a week ago Thursday when head man Ed Davis’ squad improved to 6-2 following a 56-49 road win in Ohio against Logan. Devin Hefner (17.1 points per game), Makenna Winans (15.0 ppg), Allie Taylor (8.8 ppg), Sierra Hays (3.8 assists per game) and Kenzie Johnson (3.5 apg) are expected to start for the visiting Patriots. “We know they are really good,” Davis stated of the Big Reds, who were ranked No. 2 in the preseason. “We also know how good Waterford is from personal experience going over there a couple years ago.” Coach Davis said the layoff actually has been good for his team, which might get Allyssa Wilson back sometime before the postseason. A usual starter, Wilson has been sidelined lately with a back issue and was averaging better than six points and nearly four rebounds an outing. “I think we had five games in eight days there (at one point),” added Davis, who will look for senior Charity Anderson, sophomore Lauren Pelfrey and freshman Rylee Harner to add depth off the bench. “PHS is just so long and athletic. We are looking at it as a good early season test to see how we will handle the pressure. We’ve faced some pressure. We’re kind of anxious and looking forward to it.” As far as the setback to Waterford, it marked the first game for the Big Reds in 10 days. “There is no way to get into any rhythm,” Cozzens added. “The kids will have practiced for nine weeks now and we’ve played seven games. Three of those were in a five-day span. “Then, after we play South, we have another eight day break. It will be interesting, but we have to make better decisions down the stretch of games.”

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