Photo by Jay W. Bennett Tyler Consolidated’s Caleb Strode, who finished with game-highs of 31 points and 11 rebounds, makes a pass while driving between Parkersburg Catholic’s Blake Lewis (0) and Xavier Collie (1) during the Silver Knights’ 82-53 road win Tuesday evening.

PARKERSBURG — Brody Seckman’s putback in the final minute capped the scoring here Tuesday night for visiting Tyler Consolidated as the No. 11 Class A Silver Knights won at Parkersburg Catholic for the first time in school history, 82-53.

Head coach Steven Nutter’s one-two punch of senior Justin Bowman and junior Caleb Strode were too much for the Crusaders, who dropped to 2-6 and returns to action Thursday night at Ritchie County.

“Went to Clay-Battelle (a 63-44 loss that snapped a five-game win streak) on Saturday, fourth game in six days, didn’t do very much right,” admitted Nutter, who got game-highs of 31 points and 11 boards from Strode while Bowman finished with 23 points, four assists and three steals. “We’re trying to play uptempo and we couldn’t get the traps, couldn’t close out passing lanes and offensively we weren’t even really moving very well or filling holes. Tonight we came out, two day break, got us rest and we were able to push the tempo and got the tempo going our way and the guys really responded.

“I thought, tonight, the key to this game was our unselfish play offensively. In transition we were very good at giving it up. We attacked the rim. We played as a team and we were able to get a nice win. Nobody in our program remembers Tyler Consolidated getting a win here so coming into Parkersburg Catholic and getting a win, historically, has been really tough for every team in the LKC. To be able to come in and get a ‘W’ means a lot to us and our program.”

Xavier Collie, who led the hosts with 21 points, seven caroms and three steals, tallied eight of his markers in the opening quarter. That effort along with buckets by Ethan Lang and Charley Sumney, who had three steals, and a 3 by Will Hart had the hosts ahead 15-11 with 2:58 left in the first.

However, the Crusaders missed their final four shots of the stanza and it was tied at 15 after point guard Connor Bailey had a steal and assisted on a Bowman lay-in. Strode then hit a 3 via a David Throckmorton dime to put the visitors ahead for good. TCHS, now 6-2 with a home game Thursday versus Ravenswood, led 21-15 after one as Strode connected from deep again after teammate Carson Gorby found him open.

Tyler Consolidated took control with a 19-6 posting in the second quarter that included a 13-2 run to open it. Following a triple by Haygen Baker, Throckmorton converted a free throw with 2:26 left in the half as the Crusaders were doubled up, 34-17. By the time Collie made a lay-in at the 2:15 mark to cut it 34-19, PCHS had started the stanza with five turnovers and as many missed field goal attempts. A pair of Gorby foul shots gave the Silver Knights a commanding 40-21 halftime bulge.

“We got to stay calm under pressure,” stressed PCHS head man Daniel Collie, who watched Hart pick up his third foul late in the second quarter and eventually foul out. “We try to work on that. Just can’t panic. If you panic against the pressure you might as well hand them the ball on the baseline instead of turning it over. I’d rather take a five-second call than turn it over under the rim like we did a couple times. Got to handle the pressure and got to execute offensively.

“We have a tendency to let it stick, one pass, one shot and that doesn’t work. We’ve got to get a couple more rotations and more passes. Every day I tell them win, lose got to get better. Got to play better in the fourth than we did the third. Got to play better in the third than we did the second. Got to be better tomorrow at practice than we were tonight. Got to get better.”

Throckmorton and Baker joined Sumney and fellow Crusader Carter McMinn (six rebounds) with eight points apiece. Hart added nine points and Lang had seven.

The Silver Knights, who got a game-high five assists from Bailey along with six counters from Trey Landis, shot 55% (33 of 60) and limited PCHS to 43.8% (21 of 48) from the field.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com