Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce, 5, takes on South Charleston’s Roman Kellam, 11, in Saturday’s game at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center in Parkersburg. (Photo courtesy of Kelly Patrick)
PARKERSBURG – When it comes to the pace of play in high school boys basketball, the “55” is South Parkersburg’s go-to.
After South Charleston was beating South at its own game through the first quarter, the Patriots made a change on the fly, moving to a rarely used 3-2 zone to limit the Black Eagles’ athleticism.
The decision made South Charleston coach Mike Fallon look like a genius. His club held South Charleston to 26 points in the final three quarters for a 52-45 victory over the No. 7 Black Eagles.
During their current three-game winning streak, defense has been the Patriots’ MO, limiting opponents to 38 points per contest.
“We can play a different defense like we did tonight.” Coach Fallon said after the No. 9 Patriots improved to 5-3. “There’s a lot we can do with them.
During Saturday’s game at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center, Parkersburg South’s Harry Silvis (right) dives onto the floor to force a tying goal against a South Charleston player. (Photo courtesy of Kelly Patrick)
“We knew South Charleston was athletic. We knew their bench wasn’t very deep. In the first quarter we just kept running with them – We knew we could take the lump out, but we stayed there…In the third quarter, I saw some of their kids hanging their shorts out there.”
The long break his high school team experienced due to weather may have been the best medicine for Taj Joyce, who had a breakout night as he looked to get his sea legs back from football and come out of concussion protocol. I don’t know.
The 6-foot-6 junior scored a game-high 15 points, including 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Teammate Navi Hewitt added 10 points, and Cameron Fallon came off the bench for significant time as part of his nine points.
“The Taj is finally coming out of its shell. It’s the Taj we’ve been expecting all year.” Coach Fallon said. “With football and concussion protocols, he struggled a little bit early on. But he found himself. It’s really just the look in his eyes that’s different. He’s a little different than he’s ever been. I’m practicing my way.”
In the first quarter, South Charleston scored the final eight points of the period, taking a 19-10 lead on 8-of-15 shooting (53%). When South switched up its game plan in time to start the second quarter, the Black Eagles were held to just 11-of-37 (30%) for the rest of the game.
Three South Charleston players scored in double figures, including Zane Sanders, who had a team-high 12 points. Elijah Martin and Malcolm Brown each contributed 11 points. As SC’s starting point guard, Brown scored five points in the first quarter, but was plagued by foul trouble throughout and finally scored his fifth point with 58 seconds left in regulation as South led 49-45. .
“We’re a lot better in the broken court now, but I thought we did really well in the first quarter when we ran the half-court offense.” South Charleston coach Josh Daniel said this after his team’s third straight win. “We really struggled when we got South out of their man and into their zone, which was a common theme for us this year.
“After that first quarter, it had a lot to do with their defense. They struggled to find their rhythm. Teams we’ve played before gave us zone, but we played against it. We didn’t handle it very well. Tonight was a perfect example of that.”
South started the game 0-of-8 from beyond the arc and led 25-15 before Fallon knocked down a trey at 2:22 of the second quarter.
Joyce added a bucket just before halftime, and SC held a 25-20 lead going into halftime.
“We’re running our sets and getting some great results, but we’re just not done yet.” Coach Fallon said.
The Patriots poured in 19 points, especially in the third quarter, and it looked like the rim was widening. Thanks to the pairing of Silvis and Hewitt, South made their first three 3-pointers of the second half and took the lead for good at 31-30.
South also had a significant advantage at the free throw line, building its lead to as many as eight points (45-37) five minutes into the fourth quarter. The Patriots outscored the Black Eagles 16-2 from the charity stripe.
SC made one final attack with two buckets from Brown, cutting the gap to 45-43. The Black Eagles had one possession to tie or take the lead, but Hewitt’s steal resulted in a two-shot foul. The senior made both attempts from the line.
After another defensive stop, South point guard Mason Nutter’s putback increased the lead to 49-43 with 1:13 left. Nutter, who started his transition as the team’s quarterback three games ago, picked up two fouls in the first two and a half minutes of the game. With several breaks in between, Nutter remained on the floor without picking up another person.
“We went through a tough period with three consecutive losses, but this really changed the momentum.” Nutter said. “In that first quarter, they were allowed to go up and down. I think they like the open court. When you look at their players, they’re very athletic and want to run. We were able to play at 55 because that’s our job. But the zone slowed us down and we weren’t able to move on.
“They hit some fast shots, some bad shots. They used zone a few times. I think we’ll definitely see a lot more of that.”
Contact Kelly Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com
