Petersburg, Frankfort open Class AA girls state tournament today
Mar. 8—CHARLESTON, W.Va. — For the third straight year, Petersburg and Frankfort will take the floor at the Class AA girls state tournament.
The Vikings (14-9), seeded No. 6, take on No. 3 St. Marys (17-7) today at 9:30 a.m. The Falcons (13-12), seeded No. 8, square off with top-seeded Summers County (21-4) at 5:30 p.m.
Petersburg is aiming to make its third straight appearance in the Class AA semifinals. Frankfort is in search of its first state tournament victory since 2019.
The two sectional rivals were pitted against one another in the first round last year, a game that Petersburg won, 47-41, before falling to eventual state champion Parkersburg Catholic. In 2021, the Vikings were eliminated by Wyoming East, the eventual champion that year too, in the semis.
St. Marys also advanced to the state semifinals at last year's tournament. The Blue Devils, winners of 8 of 9 contests, are led in scoring by Addie Davis (12.8), Zoe Davis (12.5) and Breanna Price (12.4).
Petersburg hit a rough patch when All-Area guard Kennedy Kaposy was lost for the remainder of the season, but the Vikings have caught fire, stringing together seven wins in nine games.
Braylee Corbin paces the Vikings' offense with 16.4 points per game. Nellie Whetzel, Sammy Colaw, Addison Kitzmiller and Abby Alt have all been rounding into form as the season progressed.
Whetzel had a career game in Petersburg's 64-41 victory to win the region final last week, exploding for 23 points.
Frankfort, meanwhile, will tangle with an opponent it's already seen this year. The Falcons hung tough against the No. 1 seed in Class AA, falling 71-66 to Summers County in Morgantown, West Virginia, on Dec. 9.
The Falcons, which began the season 1-5, have won 4 of 5 games, including a 44-41 triumph at Trinity Christian in the co-region final.
Larae Grove leads the charge for Frankfort at 14.9 points per game and with 32 3-pointers. Grove shoots well at the charity stripe, making 101 of 131 (77.1%) from that range.
Arin Lease adds 9.0 points and a team-high 6.3 rebounds a game. Avery Noel has commanded a larger role in the offense as the season wore on to up her season scoring average to 5.5.
Defensively, Frankfort is allowing just 39.7 points a game since the playoffs began.
Summers County won a nail biter in its region final, edging a tough Mingo Central (19-4), 29-27. The Bobcats, who have won 10 straight, are paced by Grace Harvey and Sullivan Pivont with scoring averages of 14 and 10 points, respectively.
