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Wheeling Park’s late run dooms South

Fourth-quarter spurt proves the differenceBY JOSH HUGHES jhughes@newsandsentinel.com PARKERSBURG — A tight contest at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center got away from the Parkersburg South Patriots, 84-67, on Tuesday night. Thanks in part to Keondre King’s 36-point outburst, Wheeling Park both came back and pulled away in this game. A 12-2 South run to begin the second quarter put them ahead by 14 with 5:46 left in the half. However, Park would storm back and go on an 18-8 run to go into the locker room only down 42-38 at the break. King had 16 of his points in the first half, and Alex Vargo, who tallied 26 on the night, was a force to be reckoned with. He already had a double-double in the first half with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Malaki Sylvia had a big first half, as well. He had a solid 12 points and five rebounds on a night where he asserted himself in the paint. Sylvia was held in check in the second half, as he was held to 14 and 10 rebounds by the end of the night. South got off to the races to start th

Photo by Josh Hughes Parkersburg South’s Seth Fallon (2) pressures Wheeling Park’s Donovan Goddard (22) during the Patriots’ 84-67 loss to the Patriots. Fallon tied Brayden Mooney for team-high in points with 17.

PARKERSBURG — A tight contest at the Rod Oldham Athletic Center got away from the Parkersburg South Patriots, 84-67, on Tuesday night.

Thanks in part to Keondre King’s 36-point outburst, Wheeling Park both came back and pulled away in this game.

A 12-2 South run to begin the second quarter put them ahead by 14 with 5:46 left in the half. However, Park would storm back and go on an 18-8 run to go into the locker room only down 42-38 at the break.

King had 16 of his points in the first half, and Alex Vargo, who tallied 26 on the night, was a force to be reckoned with. He already had a double-double in the first half with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Malaki Sylvia had a big first half, as well. He had a solid 12 points and five rebounds on a night where he asserted himself in the paint. Sylvia was held in check in the second half, as he was held to 14 and 10 rebounds by the end of the night.

South got off to the races to start the second half, as 3-pointers from Brayden Mooney and Seth Fallon fought off a surging Park team.

The offensive output suddenly stopped when the South Patriots missed their next five shots and two free throws. The Park Patriots responded with a 12-6 bump to take a 59-56 lead going into the final eight minutes of play.

Wheeling Park’s offense exploded with 25 points in the fourth, and King scored as many points as Parkersburg South did in the fourth (11).

Park had its way neutralizing the South scoring attack, and coach Michael Jebbia knew his team had to take advantage of a struggling offense.

“The biggest key for us was trying to get stops against South,” Jebbia said of his opponents.

“They’re so good offensively. Alex Vargo rebounding the ball and Keondre King got hot again he’s been hot for the last three weeks. Those two guys have been really consistent, and some of our other guys are a big reason for this. Jack Stakem, Xavier Morris and Donovan Goddard played big minutes for us.”

Mike Fallon’s Patriots let another game slip away in the second half, and he kept preaching the importance of playing for March.

“We’ve just got to get better, I mean, there’s just no other way to put it,” Fallon said. “The other thing we’re playing for now is March. Between now and then, we’ve got to keep finding ways to win. That’s all we can do. We’re not going to win any conference championships. We’ve got to keep clawing. I’m not going to quit. I’m not going to give up.”

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