PARKERSBURG — Visiting Parkersburg South held off rival Parkersburg 79-73 to win its 10th straight series in the 160th tournament Tuesday night inside Memorial Fieldhouse here. .
The 0-4 Big Reds, led by first-year head coach Phil Wilson, will play Williamstown in Warren’s Clash at the Coliseum on Friday at 5 p.m., leading 46-29 at halftime. At 3:39, they still trailed by 17 points, 54-37. 3rd place left.
Despite closing the lead to 57-51 in the fourth and getting within 60-58 with 5 minutes and 43 seconds left, the Patriots, led by head man Mike Fallon, had three chances. He was never far behind when it came to getting his first win.
“We’ve been here many times and we’ve slipped through it when the crowds started coming in.” Coach Fallon credited Jackson Smith with 23 points, Harry Silvis with 19 points, Cole Joy with 12 points and Connor McMullen with 11 points.
“Everyone says they’re young, but we’re young too. The biggest thing was the kids found a way. On Friday against Musselman, we had a little bit of a panic attack at the end with the younger kids. However, they played well today. We will continue to improve with each game.”
PHS point guard Nate Rodriguez tied Smith for game-high scoring honors with six rebounds and four assists. Andrew Stalnaker had 15 points, Isaac Daly 10 points and Matthew Stalnaker had 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds in a setback.
“I think what we’re trying to do is get them to understand that they don’t have to turn the game around.” Coach Wilson acknowledged that his team won the battle on the boards (35-34) but lost the battle of turnovers (19-12). “Normally they would have folded those games.
“What I want them to understand is that the more effort they put in, the better they get, and the effort they are putting in right now is pretty good. There are a lot of them. That means we need to increase the intensity in our practices from now on.”
Smith drained three of his five threes in the first quarter. Silvis made a 3 off one of Joy’s game-high 10 assists, and the Red and White were up 25-12 after one hole with three ticks left.
Parkersburg trailed 31-14 early in the second set, but went on a 15-4 run to close the gap to 35-29. Rodriguez scored 10 points in a spurt, Luke Anderson made a free throw, Isaiah Walker made a putback and Quentin Wilson made a jumper from the foul line.
However, the Patriots ended the first half on an 11-0 onslaught. McMullen started the game with a hoop, followed by a 3-point play by Mason Nutter and a 4-point play by Silvis. Joy sank two foul shots to earn the final points.
The Big Reds conceded a run late in the third inning, but Daly got a boost with seven counterattacks in a spurt.
South’s lead was down to just six points in the fourth, but it didn’t take long for them to find themselves in a one-possession situation. Rodriguez assisted Walker with a behind-the-back, then a no-look dime to Daley, who drained a 3. It was 60-58 after Rodriguez grabbed a defensive carom and made a coast-to-coast lay-in. .
Nevertheless, Smith immediately countered with a trifecta, followed by Navi Hewitt, a transfer from Parkersburg Christian (who had seven markers), moving along the baseline and exploding to the basket for a jam. I decided.
Matthew Stalnaker hit a lay-in off an assist from Chander Jackson to make it 65-60 with 4:44 left, but Smith hit a 3 just 18 seconds later and PHS never got back to a one-possession game. .
“Everything we do now has to be about growth.” Coach Wilson added. “It’s the little things that matter, and right now we’re failing in those little areas. I really think if we can fix those little things, it will help us turn the corner.
“I don’t like losing, but I’m proud of them because they’re fighting. It’s one of those double-edged swords. We really want to win the game, but at the end of the day we have to understand that we can compete too. I want you to do that.”
Parkersburg South, which shot 27 of 59 (45.8%) compared to 29 of 56 (51.8%) for the Big Reds, also returns to action on Friday. The Patriots will play Walsh Jesuit at Mount Union in the Alliance Christmas Classic at 4 p.m.
“We have a third consecutive road trip to Columbus coming up.” Coach Fallon said. “We may be 3-0, but we’re going to be better because of the teams we play. In the big plans of making us better in the future. We played Spring Mills on Saturday and we should win there. I truly felt that it was.
“They’re a top two or three team in West Virginia. They’re as good as anyone we’re going to see all year. If you don’t give them (PHS) offensive rebounds, they’re still going to score 20 points. I think we can win more than that. I think that was the biggest difference in this game because they kept chipping away at the second shot. We’re going to grow from there and we’ve been working on that.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com.