Parkersburg South’s Mason Nutter drives into the paint against Huntington Expression Prep during the Patriots’ 68-55 season-opening victory Saturday night inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center. Mark Brown will play defense. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
PARKERSBURG — It wasn’t a pretty game inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center here Saturday night, but after the Patriots defeated Huntington Expression Prep 68-55, Parkersburg – South head coach Mike Fallon was happy to start the season with a win. .
Navi Hewitt scored a game-high 21 points for the Patriots, who open to a 2-0 loss to Parkersburg on Tuesday night.
Harry Silvis, who had a shutout in the second quarter with three fouls, also scored in double figures with 17 points.
The Patriots’ Mason Nutter had nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals, along with three threes from Cameron Fallon.
“What did Harry play? And if Taj (Joyce, six points, game-high six steals) still has football legs, it’ll probably take 20 minutes.” Coach Fallon credited his team with making 6 of 10 from downtown and building a commanding 28-11 advantage after the first quarter. “When he comes back, he’s going to be an All-Star.
Parkersburg South’s Navi Hewitt scored a game-high 21 points and defeated Huntington Expression Prep in the Patriots’ 68-55 season opener Saturday night inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center. He made a skip pass while Rasheed Morrison was defending. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“I mean, shut up. We saw what he could do this summer, but he’s still not in shape because of football. We’re happy with our kids.” Last year we would have found a way to lose it. That’s what happened to us at the beginning of the year last year, but then we lost all momentum.”
The 2-4 Lions never took the lead, but Theo Agyeman responded to Silvis’ triple-double with a double-double of 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds to go with five dimes and tie the score at three. caught up with.
Just 13 seconds later, Hewitt’s corner 3 resulted in an assist from Nutter, giving the Patriots the lead for good. HEP took a 16-3 lead 4:30 into the first on Nutter’s 3-point play.
Hewitt’s 3-point play with 3:39 left in the first half put the Lions in a 35-20 hole, and Fallon’s triple and Hewitt’s big one-handed flash quickly widened the lead to 20 points.
Despite trailing 42-24 at intermission, HEP went 8-0 thanks to Mitchell Cox (10 points), buckets from Ramin Gassama, and back-to-back deuces from Rasheed Morrison that ended with 11 counters. The second half started with a spurt.
Cox’s triple, assisted by Wilco Diggaisser, brought the Lions within seven points, 46-39, and the visitors trailed by six, 48-42, after Thompson’s steal and layup with 1:39 left in the third. We entered the 4th inning with a point difference. .
Parkersburg South forced 21 turnovers in the first half, but missed all nine shots from deep in the third period and 12 of 13 in the second period overall. Ta.
“That zone they ran, other than Spring Mills, I don’t think anyone can play as long or as athletically as we do.” Coach Fallon admitted. “We had a clean look. They didn’t get going and we couldn’t finish around the rim because of their length and height. Proud of our kids. I think so.
“We really worked hard in the first half. We were on the floor more in the first half than we were all last season, diving on the floor and chasing after them. In the fourth quarter we switched defenses and gave them a little bit of trouble there. But that little change of pace was the difference in the game.”
The first basket of the fourth quarter didn’t come until 2:38 on a putback by Nutter.
HEP closed the lead to six points midway through the fourth inning, 52-46, on Agyeman’s 3-point play and Dick Ghaisar’s free throws.
But when the Patriots were able to take control late, Silvis hit two triples sandwiched between Joyce’s threes.
“We don’t need to give kids that kind of motivation.” Fallon quipped about Monday’s practice before PHS’ game.
girl
PARKERSBURG — The Parkersburg South girls team earned its first win of the season Saturday, defeating Weir 63-61 at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center.
The Patriots trailed by 21 points early in the fourth quarter, but their top-notch defense turned the tide.
“It was a crazy fourth quarter.” PSHS head coach Ed Davis said. “We ramped up the pressure and did some man presses. We hadn’t practiced that much, but the kids worked on it and knocked down some shots. Next thing you know, we… They were right there and made some free throws at the end. I’m so proud of them. They needed that.”
South has struggled early in the season and added leading scorer Lucy Klein to the injury report earlier this week. Even without Klein, several Patriots, led by Farrah Yost, announced their participation on Saturday.
Yost scored 25 points, a career high for all scorers, and had six rebounds, five steals and two assists. Macy Singer had 10 points and Kenna Mace had eight points and eight rebounds. Teryn Richards contributed seven points, six boards, five steals and two blocks.
The Tigers (3-2) committed 27 turnovers in the game and led 15-12 at the end of the fourth quarter, 37-30 at halftime and 54 points entering the fourth quarter. He was in the lead with 37 points. Weir, which got 20 points from Janai Turner, 13 from Eliza Utt and 12 from Maria Foulkes, cruised to a 26-7 victory in the final eight minutes.
South, currently 1-3, will play Parkersburg on Thursday at Memorial Fieldhouse as part of Rivalry Week.
