Warren's Aubrey Pepper splits a pair of Parkersburg South defenders -- Payten Mackey (33) and Carley Schaffer (20) during Thursday's high school girls basketball game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Aaron Lee)

PARKERSBURG – The hallmark of a good game is being uncertain of the outcome until the very end. That was the case when the Warren Warriors girls basketball team crossed the Ohio River on Thursday to take on the Parkersburg South Patriots.

In this game, the victor was not determined until the final second, when a basket by Carley Schaffer allowed the Patriots to pull away and win 53-51.

Aubrey Pepper of the Warriors hit an early 3, stole the ball as South was bringing it up the court, and then dished the ball to Raylen Shotwell, who also made a 3. Parkersburg South’s Emilee Owens responded with a 3 of her own to prevent the Warriors from pulling away, although Shotwell would make another before the quarter’s end. Warren was up 15-11 at the end of the first.

Patriot Regan Shockey tied things up at 18 a side with a two-pointer early in the second. Lucie Cline set up a nice play moments layer, finding Shockey on a pass for another two points.

Late in the second, Pepper connected with Sarah Pettey, who was able to make a two-point shot for the Warriors. Mackenzie James-McGuire hit a 3 from downtown as time expired in the second for a buzzer-beater to send the teams into halftime with Warren up 29-24.

Schaffer of the Patriots managed a three-point play early in the third. Then, Gracie Shamblin hit a 3 for South. Owens hit two field goals in the first three minutes of the third to add to the onslaught. South was up 40-33 with two and a half left in the third.

Warren then rattled off four in a row to force a Patriot timeout. Pepper hit a pretty pull-up jumper to take the lead at 41-40 going into the final quarter.

South went up 45-41 early in the fourth. Warren then had a long possession, at least a minute of trying to set up plays that never came to fruition because of South’s stiff defense. The possession ended with a jump ball and possession going to the Patriots without Warren taking a shot.

The two teams found themselves tied back up at 47 a side with two and a half minutes left to play.

Hayleigh Chidester hit a 3 for the Warriors to go up 50-47. Mackey responded with a two-pointer to pull within one point with 49 seconds left.

After being fouled, James-McGuire went 1-2 from the line. Mackey hit both of hers to knot things up at 51.

After the free throws, Pepper weaved through defenders to get to the basket. Her layup went in and out. Then, with time almost out, Schaffer hit a layup to secure victory for the Patriots as the crowd went wild.

Owens gave her thoughts on the game, “I think we started out a little slow, to be honest. Our defense wasn’t really intense, and we didn’t really play the best, but we just had to buckle down and play hard. None of our shots were falling in the beginning, so we had to play with more heart than anything.”

“Those last couple minutes are always a lot of adrenaline going. Your emotions are high, and you have anger going, you’re just kinda trying to keep your head in the game and keep your eye on the prize, really,” said Owens of the end of the game.

Patriots head coach Ed Davis thought the game lived up to the hype, “I think it was everything we expected, and probably a little more as far as the excitement. We knew it was going to be a dogfight. Warren is a great team, they got some great players at every position. You can’t really tee on anybody, because they have people that will hurt you. It had to be a fun game to watch. I’m just happy our ladies found a way at the end and battled.”

On the strategy involved in the final play, Davis said, “We’re best when we just get the ball and go. Warren did a great job of taking that away from us and making us run plays. That’s something we have to get better at, because we couldn’t, and that’s on me. We’re better in transition, so at that point, we just figured that there was a good chance.”

He continued, “Lucie (Cline) got a good rebound, made a great outlet pass there, and Carley Schaffer is probably one of the best finishers in and around, so when she took off there, it was a way better opportunity than anything else that we we’re going to come up with on the bench.”

“I just appreciate the crowd tonight and the enthusiasm on both sides. It could’ve went either way, and Brad (Venham) does a great job with them, and they’re a great team,” commented Davis on their competition.

Parkersburg South improved to 5-0 to stay undefeated and will take on its cross-town rival, the Big Reds on Thursday. Warren fell to 4-2, and will play host to Federal Hocking Monday.