Patriot boys triumph over Big Reds in first crosstown showdown meeting of 2021
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PARKERSBURG -- Parkersburg South never trailed after scoring the first eight points here Saturday night inside Memorial Fieldhouse and the Patriots topped rival Parkersburg, 59-52, despite going 8 of 18 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.
Bryson Singer went for game-highs of 24 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks for the now 1-5 Big Reds, who play host Tuesday to Cabell Midland.
Jake Hogsett, who finished with 12 points, six rebounds and two steals, gave head man Mike Fallon's squad the lead for good when he scored 10 seconds in on a backdoor layup thanks to a Caleb Schaffer assist.
"The kids do fight and they play with a lot of grit. It's just playing smart basketball," noted Big Red boss Bryan Crislip, who got 13 points from Carson Dennis along with five counters and seven caroms by Josh Kopec.
"It's like the very first possession.
"I thought coach Fallon did a great job because he knew Carson Dennis would be fired up for this game. He drew a great play. A little backdoor and got him a wide open layup. That's what I told our guys. It's the little things. Once we do the little things it will end up being big results."
A pair of field goals by Cyrus Traugh, who finished with 20 points and five rebounds, was followed by a Jyles Johnson lay-in via a needle-threading bounce pass from Hogsett, which made it 8-0 at the 5:58 mark.
Consecutive 3s by Ashton Mooney, who had 15 points, and Traugh put PHS in a 16-6 hole.
A spinning lay-in by Julian Martin and a basket apiece by Dennis and Singer still had the hosts trailing 21-12 after one.
Schaffer's trifecta opened the scoring in the second 1:22 in as the Patriots, who play host at 2 p.m. Sunday to Class AAAA, No. 2 Morgantown, had their largest lead at 24-12. PHS answered with seven straight thanks to an Austin Fleming bank shot, a deep 3 from Dennis and a Singer lay-in after he made a stuff at the other end.
However, the Patriots held a 34-23 edge with 2:22 left in the half following a Devin Hershberger trifecta and the Big Reds still trailed 36-30 at intermission.
A Sammy McCale steal and assist for a Dennis lay-in opened the scoring at 6:25 of the third, but PHS was unable to make it a one-possession affair again. A Kopec 3 along with a coast-to-coast lay-in by Dennis still had PHS in a 47-39 hole entering the fourth.
"We jumped out to a really good start," noted coach Fallon of his 4-3 team. "This is one of those gyms you just want to survive and move on. It's one of those buildings where crazy things happen all the time. If we make our free throws it's way over early.
"I mean we're walking out of here with a 15, 16-point win. This was a great experience for us because it was a real physical game, which we haven't had all year. I thought we handled the physicality well. To us this was a huge game. I think we learned more from this than anything else."
In the fourth, PHS closed it to 47-43 after layups by Martin and Singer with 6:17 to go, but couldn't get any closer despite the Patriots' charity stripe woes.
"From one to 15, I think we're as good as we've been," added Fallon, who got six markers and a team-high 11 boards from Johnson along with a game-high three steals from Mooney. "I really, honestly, truly believe that. We do some silly things every now and then. For our kids to keep fighting and digging, that was big."
The Patriots finished 9 of 20 from deep compared to the Big Reds' 3 of 10 showing and the visitors battled to a 34-all tie on the boards.
"Morgantown is as good as any basketball team in West Virginia," Fallon said of the challenge on Sunday. "They are physical. They can shoot it and coach (David) Tallman does a great job. He was kind of complaining because tomorrow is the Sweet 16 and I told him 'you let us win, I'll let you come to my house and watch the second game and then you don't miss it,' but he wouldn't buy that. We'll see what happens."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com