Patriots begin postseason by blowing away Hurricane
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PARKERSBURG -- Jackson Clark went for a game-high 24 points for visiting Hurricane here Tuesday night in a Class AAAA, Region IV, Section 2 semifinal inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center, but it wasn't nearly enough as Parkersburg South cruised to a 100-59 victory.
The top-seeded Patriots, who ended the regular season ranked No. 3, will carry a 17-6 record into Friday's home affair versus St. Albans for the sectional crown.
Hurricane head coach Lance Sutherland's program, which had a three-game win streak snapped and finished the campaign at 11-12, also received 14 points from Carson O'Dell.
Nathan Plotner, who went for eight points, six boards, a trio of steals as well as a game-high three blocked shots, won the opening tip. Point guard Austin Reeves grabbed the ball near halfcourt and raced to the rim. Despite converting just 1 of 2 from the charity stripe five ticks in, his make put the top-seeded Patriots ahead for good.
Parkersburg South head coach Mike Fallon watched his club score the first six points. It was 13-6 at 4:43 of the first after Jackson Smith, who led the hosts with 23 markers, converted the first of five Patriot three-point plays.
A pair of field goals from O'Dell, the second of which came via a Brayden Whittington assist, closed the deficit to 15-10, but the Patriots ended the quarter on a 12-2 spurt.
Reeves, who had nine counters, a game-high seven assists and joined Plotner and Cyrus Traugh (17 points, six boards) with three steals, started it with a lay-in. Plotner followed with a tip-in, Smith connected from deep and then a Cole Joy steal led to a Traugh lay-in. With just three seconds left, Smith capped a 10 of 15 effort from the field for the Patriots when he drained another 3 for a 27-12 bulge.
South's pressure defense forced a turnover to start the second. That led to an easy hoop for Traugh following a steal. Although Bryson Murrell's basket made it 29-14, Aiden Blake canned a trey for part of his 16-point effort to put the hosts ahead by 18.
The Redskins proceeded to put their biggest run of the game together. HHS scored nine straight points, which came via a Daniel Spencer 3 and a bucket apiece by Sam Lewis, Carter Richmond and Clark. That allowed the visitors to get it back to single digits at 32-23, but Smith was left open and started a quarter-ending 13-6 run when he connected for 3 from the top of the key. Seth Meadows, who chipped in eight markers, had a spinning lay-in during the spurt. Smith's 8-foot swish from a Joy dish with three seconds left put PSHS ahead 45-29 at intermission.
"We lost our intensity a little bit, I think, and kind of went flat," coach Fallon said. "That's what we talked about at halftime. At this time of year you can't do that.
"You got to keep peddling and keep going. I thought at halftime when we adjusted, the couple things we did, I thought they did a great job coming out in the second half."
Hurricane, which started the third 2 of 10 from the field compared to South's 7 of 10, found itself down by 31 at 65-34 following a Traugh three-point play. Smith had his second three-point play just prior. With just a second left in the stanza, Miciah Jones beat the buzzer with a trifecta as the Redskins trailed 74-44 entering the final eight minutes.
Harry Silvis and Turner Garretson chipped in four points apiece for Parkersburg South, which hit the century mark on the nose for the second time this year when Alec Marshall beat the buzzer.
"I think we'd put up 125 if we'd made our layups and free throws," added Fallon, whose team just doubled up St. Albans two weeks ago, 86-43, and also received a three-point play from Blake in the fourth. "We missed so many layups in the first and second quarter.
"Hate to be picky, but you put teams away earlier then you aren't fighting when it gets to 18 and they cut it to nine. Proud of our kids. At practice on Monday when we came back from GW (George Washington), totally different. They know it's postseason now."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com