Petersburg, Frankfort return to girls state tournament

Mar. 1—For the third year in a row, the Class AA state tournament field will have Petersburg and Frankfort in it.

The Vikings (14-9), winners of three straight Region II, Section 1 titles over Frankfort, defeated Section 2 runner-up Braxton County, 64-41, at home Tuesday to capture a spot in Charleston, West Virginia.

Nellie Whetzel scored a career-high 23 points to lead the Petersburg triumph, and Braylee Corbin and Sammy Colaw added 12 points apiece.

Frankfort (13-12) made the trek up I-68 to take down Section 2 champion Trinity, 44-41, Tuesday and book its ticket to the dance. The Falcons' win in Morgantown was sparked by Arin Lease and Larae Grove, who scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Those victories marked three consecutive seasons Petersburg and Frankfort have defeated those same teams in Region II co-finals.

The West Virginia Secondary School Activities Commission announced Tuesday that Petersburg would be the No. 6 seed in the Class AA tournament, slated to play No. 3 St. Marys (17-7) in the state quarterfinals on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

The Vikings have advanced to the state Final Four in each of the past two seasons.

Frankfort enters as the No. 8 seed and will take on top-seeded Summers County (21-4) Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.