PHS, South round one
Crosstown rivals collide for 151st time
Photo by Jay W. Bennett Parkersburg South’s Malaki Sylvia.
Photo by Jay W. Bennett Parkersburg High’s Aiden Vega.
Photo by Jay W. Bennett Parkersburg South’s Malaki Sylvia.
Photo by Jay W. Bennett Parkersburg High’s Aiden Vega.
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PARKERSBURG -- In meeting No. 151 tonight inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center, a first will take place in the Parkersburg-Parkersburg South boys basketball rivalry.
A pair of first-year head coaches will go against one another when the 2-2 Big Reds of mentor Bryan Crislip take on the Patriots of head man Brett Rector.
"I've coached 90 percent of those kids in travel basketball or camps so I know who they are and I know their strengths and weaknesses," admitted Crislip, a first team all-stater at PSHS back in 1999 and 2000. "We'll have our hands full. They are a very good basketball team, senior laden. The (Malaki) Sylvia kid is a stud and just the rest of them.
"They have way more size. If we don't block out and do the little things it will be a long game, but it's a rivalry game and you never know what's going to happen. I'm excited going back to my old school. We'll see what kind of energy our kids have. I think when it's that kind of atmosphere they are going to compete. We're thrilled for the challenge."
Coach Rector's squad was upended 59-54 on Monday at Fort Frye as the Patriots enter the tilt at 2-1.
"It was one of those things. We just didn't have it. Didn't execute well," Rector said of the setback to the Cadets. "We did stuff I hadn't seen us do and you are going to have that in basketball, but hopefully you can limit the bad nights."
The all-time series is even at 75-75, although the Patriots own a 38-24 edge versus the red and white inside the ROAC.
PHS actually holds an overall 55-52 mark in regular seasons games, but Parkersburg South has a 23-20 edge in sectional play.
No matter what happens tonight for the Patriots, coach Rector's squad will return to action Saturday evening with a key road trip at Spring Valley.
"I think if I was making the schedule I probably would not play a game against a regional opponent on the road after a rivalry game," Rector noted. "Having said that, it's kind of the cards we were dealt. What I tell our kids is that's why we do so many situations in practice.
"Every game is probably going to come down to three, four, five possessions. If you want to win games you got to win down the stretch in a close game. That's going to determine our season. Can we execute and respond well to adversity?"
As far as specific strategy against the Big Reds, coach Rector wants to see his team not allow anything easy to PHS.
"Number one, which I told our guys, you better get back. You better get back on defense," Rector stressed. "They are going to run in transition and (Sam) Potts and some of those guys are really good in 1-on-1 open space type situations.
"Probably the number one key for us, can we get back and make them play 5-on-5 not 3-on-2, 2-on-1. We've got to minimize those opportunities for them. We got to execute on offense and can't make dumb turnovers. I know Bryan is doing a good job like I knew he would."
Obviously, Crislip is concerned with how his players will react at the start of the game and once things get going.
"You have to," Crislip said of embracing the underdog role tonight. "We're going to have to embrace it all year too because we are so young and inexperienced. Honestly, you have to experience it. You don't know what you don't know. The bottom line is a lot of these kids don't know that game.
"Pretty much, Sam Potts is the only kid who knows that game on the varsity level so they are just going to have to get their feet wet quick and have to grow up quick or we'll get ready for the next time we play them. I'm excited for the opportunity and I think the kids will be fine."
Despite having suffered his first loss as a head coach, Rector knows it's a long season and he's excited to see the mindset of his players.
"It will be interesting," he said. "What was encouraging for me, we got home late Monday and we practiced Christmas Eve morning at 9 and we had a great practice. It was a quick turnaround and we got after it. It was encouraging because they went hard and we watched some film.
"My first loss as a head coach, I struggled through Christmas. I can't stop thinking about it. We could've played better. Even me as a coach I could've coached better."
PHS will be off until next Friday when Woodrow Wilson invades Memorial Fieldhouse.
"The fight in us," Crislip added of what he's been most impressed with early on as he just wants his team to continue working as a cohesive unit. "That's all I ever tell our kids.
"If we will compete and fight to the end the results will be what they will be. You'll win some and you'll lose some. As long as we compete that's what I'm most proud of."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com