As if frozen in time, Parkersburg Catholic senior Mary Tokodi-Ruth watched the sequence play out.

Almost as if she became a spectator rather than a player on the court, she witnessed the ball leave Jocelynn Thorn’s hands, the shot bank off the front iron and her younger sister, Annie, turn into Johnny-on-the-spot and pull down the offensive rebound.

After Annie made the 2-foot putback just before time expired, the time warp disappeared and Mary looked for her sister and hugged her with tears in her eyes.

The final 10.3 seconds of regulation during Tuesday’s high school girls basketball between Parkersburg Catholic and Ravenswood felt like an eternity to some and a split second to others – pending what side of the fence you stood.

Down nine at one point during the second quarter, PCHS rallied to win 50-48 and remain perfect at 5-0.

“These are the games you remember,” said Mary said. “You don’t remember the blowouts. You remember where you were down the whole game and remember that last play. Annie scored and I went and jumped on her – I told her ‘I’m so proud of you.'”

Take postseason and conference championship games out of the equation, and PCHS coach Marty Vierheller has coached more than 200 games during 11 regular seasons with the program. His reaction on the sidelines, along with the coaching staff and girls sitting nearby, was quite a moment. Let’s just say he has his vertical intact.

The final 16 minutes had a similar feel to a tournament type atmosphere where the two sides basically created a stalemate throughout the entire second half.

“This game certainly ranks right there among all my games I have coached during a regular season,” Vierheller said. “We have won some games that were not ridiculously close. This one was a nailbiter. It could have gone either way.”

Through eight games, including six on the road, Ravenswood sports a 4-4 record. Earlier this season, the Red Devils were within four points of defending Class AA state champion Wyoming East with one minute left in the game before losing by 10.

With four seniors in the starting lineup, including standouts Emily Wratchford and Hadleigh McGoskey, Ravenwood is by no means an easy out. Once the Red Devils figure out how to finish close games, come tournament time they will be a factor.

“We started the season believing that, so when we played Wyoming East so close and them being defending state champ that gave us a boost of confidence,” Ravenswood coach Cara Williams said. “In a loss to Ripley, we were playing our fourth game in six days and the girls were fatigued. I hope that didn’t shake their confidence because of how poorly we played against them. What the girls did in the first half against Parkersburg Catholic, I consider it didn’t.

“I absolutely love how the girls play hard every second. I can’t be upset with their effort. As a coach, you figure you are going to make mistakes. As long as they are bringing the effort, you can work on the other stuff.”

Against Ravenswood, PCHS had to clear a few hoops. Allowing 20 points in the first six minutes is uncharacteristic of Crusaderette defenses. That part of the game was resolved in the second half.

The other variable was Thorn, who scored a team-high 20 points despite playing sick. Coach ‘V’ was not aware of her true condition until halftime. Brought back memories of Game 5 of the 1997 NBA Finals when Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls played 44 minutes and scored 38 points in what was known as “The Flu Game.”

“Jocelynn just knows no limits,” Vierheller said. “I didn’t pull her out. She would have had my head on a platter. She pulled off a bit of Michael Jordan tonight when he had the flu and scored 400 points.”

The game might still be going on if not for a Ravenswood turnover which set up PCHS’ inbounds play with 10.3 seconds remaining in regulation. With the game tied at 48, Ravenswood took over on offense with just less than a minute showing and planned to hold for the last shot.

A fumble on the exchange between Ravenswood teammates near mid-court resulted in a tie-up and the possession arrow pointing to PCHS.

Basically, Mary’s force of a jump ball and Annie’s putback at the end of the game were plays 1A and 1B.

“(Teammate Seneca Lang) tipped the ball, and McGoskey tried to get the ball near half-court,” Mary said. “I slid on my side to get it. I didn’t mean to slide in. It wasn’t completely planned.”

Thorn’s running jumper from the 3-point line off the inbounds actually looked like a set play where a teammate gets in position for the rebound for the closer look at the basket. Seen or heard about North Carolina State’s thriller finish over Houston in the 1983 NCAA Championship?

With Jimmy Valvano at the help for the Wolfpack, the respective coaches are known to be referred to as Coach ‘V.’ Coincidence? Ironic? Just pointing out fact.

“I would love to think I am that smart of a coach,” Vierheller said. “And the girls will tell you Coach ‘V’ is not near that smart. They make me look good.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com