RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. — A 19-8 third quarter surge ultimately allowed the Point Pleasant girls basketball team to claim its first postseason triumph in four years Thursday night during a 55-49 decision over Roane County in a Class AA Region I, Section 2 semifinal at Ravenswood High School.
The Lady Knights (9-12) hadn’t won a tournament game since defeating Poca 57-54 in a sectional semifinal back in the 2007-08 campaign, but PPHS erased that skid in 32 hard-fought minutes against the Lady Raiders (9-14).
Neither team started particularly well, as RCHS managed a small 5-3 edge after eight minutes of play. Point, however, countered with a 23-19 run in the second canto to take a 26-24 lead into the intermission. Sarah Hussell helped lead the Lady Knights’ second period charge, scoring 17 of her game-high 24 points during that span.
Point Pleasant kept that momentum going into the pivotal third frame, as the Red, Black and White used their 19-8 run to take a comfortable 45-32 cushion headed into the finale. Roane County closed regulation with a 17-10 spurt, but never came within a possession down the stretch.
The Lady Knights advance to Saturday’s Region I, Section 2 championship game, where they will face host Ravenswood at 3 p.m. The Red Devilettes defeated Ritchie County 55-41 in the other Region I, Section 2 semifinal Wednesday at RHS.
The victory allowed PPHS to increase its win total for a third straight year, as the Lady Knights won seven games in 2010 and eight games last winter. Besides getting to the double-digit plateau, a win Saturday would also give Point its first sectional title since 2002.
Point Pleasant connected on 19-of-60 field goal attempts for 32 percent and also made 11-of-24 free throw attempts for 46 percent. RCHS sank 11-of-14 charity tosses in the setback for 79 percent.
Hussell hit five trifectas in leading Point with 24 points, while Andrea Porter chipped in a triple-double effort of 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Katie Bruner and Allison Smith respectively added nine and five markers to the winning cause.
Cassie Nibert contributed three points, while Makenzie Thomas and Ajay Adkins rounded out the scoring with two points apiece.
Becky Frye, Micky Rhodes and Britney Henson all paced the Lady Raiders with 13 points each, followed by Brooklyn Pavalok with seven markers. Shania Lloyd and Cassidy Taylor rounded things out with two points and one point.
The winner of Saturday’s contest will face the loser of the Region I, Section 1 game between Tyler Consolidated and Oak Glen next week, and vice versa.
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