SISSONVILLE — Now this is more like it.

The second-ranked Scott Lady Skyhawks followed one of their worst performances of the season with one of their best, soaring to an easier-than-expected 63-37 victory over the ninth-ranked Sissonville Lady Indians on Thursday in the Class AA Region 4 co-final.

With the win, Scott earned its fourth state tournament berth in school history. The Lady Skyhawks previously appeared in 1997, 1998 and 2007.

Second-seeded Scott (20-4) will face seventh-seeded Liberty Harrison (13-8) today at 1 p.m. at the Charleston Civic Center.

“We played real good,” Scott coach John Porter said, making one of the biggest understatements of his career. “We came out here and took charge. I was worried coming into the game after the way we played last week. But I knew we would be fine after a few minutes.”

Scott was coming off a 43-39

Class AA Region 4, Section 2

championship loss to Tolsia. It marked the third consecutive year in which the Lady Skyhawks swept the teams’ regular-season series but lost to the Lady Rebels in their postseason rematch.

The Lady Skyhawks twice defeated the Lady Rebels this season, 58-45 on Jan. 12 at Tolsia and 62-32 on Feb. 17 at Scott.

Scott also swept its regular-season series with Tolsia in 2007-08 and 2008-09, only to lose the all-important postseason rematch. The Lady Rebels ended the Lady Skyhawks’ season in the regional final two years ago; after losing to Tolsia in the sectional final, Scott had to face and was beaten by Sissonville in a regional co-final last year.

“I was worried about the

intensity after what went down last week,” Porter said. “If you had seen us after last week’s ballgame, I thought it was over — our basic, end-of-the-year fold. They knew that they had thrown it in the toilet.”

Incidentally, a fourth matchup between the rivals is possible.

Third-seeded Tolsia (19-6) will face sixth-seeded Oak Glen (16-8) today at 9:30 a.m. The Tolsia-Oak Glen winner will face the Scott-Liberty Harrison winner in the semifinals Friday at

9:30 a.m.

The state championship game is set for Saturday at noon.

Outscoring the Lady Indians in every quarter, the Lady Skyhawks led 16-8 after the first quarter, 32-19 at halftime and 48-28 after the third quarter.

“We tend to get a lead and kind of put it on cruise control,” said Porter, whose team also defeated Sissonville 50-22 on Dec. 11 on a neutral court and 55-53 on Jan. 4 on the road. “We got the lead, then came out in the second half and, bam, bam, bam, it was a bigger lead real fast.”

Scott made 23-of-55 field goals, including 6-of-15 from three-point range, and 11-of-17 free throws. Sissonville made 11-of-42 field goals, including 2-of-14 from three-point range, and 13-of-16 free throws.

Sophomore point guard Makenzie White scored a

game-high 29 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished four assists.

“I was refusing to lose,” White said. “When we were up by 20 points in the fourth quarter, I couldn’t do anything but smile because I knew we were headed to the state tournament. It feels awesome.”

Senior guards Katie Tadlock and Ciera Bias followed with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Tadlock also grabbed five rebounds. Bias also contributed five assists, five rebounds and five steals.

Senior center Brittani Adkins added eight points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and three steals.

Although she accounted for half of the Lady Skyhawks’ offense, White was even more impressive on defense against the Lady Indians’ star, junior forward Jenna Curry.

The 5-foot-8 White limited the 6-2 Curry to 16 points.

“I just stayed in front of her with my body,” said White, a Division I prospect who has given a verbal commitment to West Virginia University. “I may have gotten excited a couple of times (and committed four fouls), but I just stayed calm and played under control for the most part.”

Entering the regional co-final, Curry had averaged 18.6 points per game and scored a career-high 39 points against Clay County in the Class AA Region 4, Section 1 championship three days earlier.

“Makenzie did a hell of a job on Curry,” Porter said.

Curry, who topped the

1,000-point mark in her career during the fourth quarter, was the Lady Indians’ only double-digit scorer. She also finished with seven rebounds and two blocks.

The Lady Skyhawks also held junior forward Hannah Keller to five points, all on free throws. Keller entered the game averaging 13.5 points per game.

The Lady Indians also received five points from sophomore guard Logan Walker, four points from sophomore guard Logan Henry, three points from sophomore guard Taren Rhodes, two points from sophomore guard Meagan Minsker, one point from junior guard Kaytee Gibson and one point from junior forward Katie Holmes.

Sissonville (15-9) committed 23 turnovers and grabbed only 22 rebounds, 14 fewer than Scott.

“I have never seen us play defense like that,” Porter said. “We played smart defense all night, and we played smart offense most of the night.”

Today will mark the second state tournament appearance for Adkins, Bias and Tadlock.

“This is my senior year,” Adkins said. “It means everything to me. We made it as freshmen, but it means so much more as seniors.”

Scott is aiming for a rematch with top-ranked and top-seeded Summers County (25-0). The Lady Bobcats have won three consecutive state championships and are the odds-on favorite to continue their jaw-dropping run of hoop titles.

“I want it to be Summers County versus Scott on the last day of the season,” Porter said.

The Lady Bobcats swept their regular-season series with the Lady Skyhawks, winning 74-66 on Jan. 9 at the Madison Civic Center and 59-49 on Jan. 23 at Summers County.

Asked how he can convince his team to play its state tournament opponents like it did Sissonville rather than Tolsia, Porter said: “I think this game will do it.”

Adkins agreed.

“We know we can do this,” she said. “It’s just a matter of who shows up and who doesn’t each night. I think all of us will show up from here on out. We are going to give it our all. We aren’t going to back down one second.”