JOSH HUGHES The Marietta Times Parkersburg Catholic’s Aaliyah Brunny, center, celebrates with teammates at the end of the Crusaderettes’ 64-60 win against Williamstown in a sectional championship Friday.

PARKERSBURG — A big 20-point night from Jenna Boice lifted her Parkersburg Catholic Crusaderettes over Williamstown 64-60 in the Class A, Region IV, Section 1 championship game. Friday night’s crowd who filled the stands inside Parkersburg Catholic High School saw a third game in the season series. In the first two games between these two squads, Catholic (21-1) came out on top by double-digits in both of them.

The sectional championship was a different story.

Boice’s markers were a big factor in this one, but her most important basket came with 20 seconds left. The Crusaderette sophomore drove to the basket and laid in the go-ahead bucket.

“I was trying not to think about it, but I knew I had to make it,” Boice admitted.

However, the game was not over at that point. The Yellowjackets (18-5) raced down the court, as the ball found its way into the waiting arms of Izzy Erb.

Erb drove down the left baseline and got stripped by Aaliyah Brunny with just a few moments remaining. Brunny then made her way to the charity stripe and sealed the game with two crucial makes.

“After I stole that, I was like ‘What just happened?'” Brunny said. “I was so happy and I just had to focus on making those free throws.”

Eight of Brunny’s 12 points came in the second half, and she said her success was due to her team spreading the ball around and getting open looks. The Crusaderettes were more efficient in the final quarter as they shot 63.6 percent from the floor en route to a 24-point effort.

Not to be lost in those late-game heroics was the effort from the Yellowjackets.

Mara Rinehart led the way with a game-high 26 points, including almost half of her team’s first-half points. Rinehart was not alone in having a strong shooting performance, as Kayli Sauro came off the bench to join her in double-figures with 10 points.

With the game tied at 40 with eight minutes to play, the Yellowjackets gained the lead on their opening possession on a Sauro 3-ball via an assist from Nicole Reynolds. They managed to hang onto that advantage until 6:10 to go, when Boice found Emma Gardner on the baseline for a jumper that gave PC a one-point edge. From that point, the two teams had a hard time missing. They traded baskets in a sequence that saw Williamstown regain the lead with 5:39 left with two Rinehart free throws.

The ‘Jackets could no longer stave off a hard-charging Catholic team that willed its way to victory in the final minute, and coach Marty Vierheller was full of emotion watching his team cut down the net. His team now hosts Tug Valley at 7 p.m. Thursday in a regional co-final; the winner heads to the state tournament.

“This is really special,” Vierheller said. “Especially, in the way that we had to win it. You know, I think there were a few people, not our faithful, but a few people who thought, ‘Man, this isn’t Catholic’s night’, but we just made a couple more plays than Williamstown did. That’s really what it boiled down to.”

Williamstown coach Fred Sauro was pleased with his team’s performance, as they get ready to play Huntington St. Joe on Thursday night.

“Remember, they were the ones beating us by 25, 30,” Sauro said. “We made up the gap, and I’m really proud of our girls.”