INSTITUTE — The Huntington Highlanders had a few opportunities Thursday evening to close their deficit against the Parkersburg South Patriots.

However, the Patriots closed the door often and loudly in the Highlanders’ face for a 65-41 win during the final day of the Snyder of Berlin/UTZ Snacks Shootout at West Virginia State University.

Parkersburg South’s efficiency during these loud closings came in various ways as well, especially in the paint and second chance opportunities.

The Patriots were plus-16, 36-20, in points in the paint and plus-11, 21-9, in second chance points.

“Today, Matt Mullen grew up for us,” South coach Mike Fallon said. “We’ve been waiting on that all season from him. He finally came through. We walked through those things yesterday. Huntington likes those second chance and junk baskets. If we could keep them off the board then we’d be in good shape.

“We defended well. We’re starting to grow. I like this group a lot. We have a good group. The biggest thing with our kids is that we’re playing with confidence.”

Huntington started its season 0-7 before racking up six straight wins.

However, since the long win streak, the Highlanders have lost its last three with two of the three coming by five points or less.

Coach Lambros Svingos is still encouraged by his team’s effort, but he wants to see more out of his guys towards the end of the regular season.

Huntington shot 16 of 53 from the floor and 4 of 18 from three in the loss on Thursday.

“Starting the season off, we ran into different types of adversities with getting the football guys late, letting guys go and others leaving the team. It took us a while to get going,” Svingos said. “We’re starting to click and string games together. We have to play a full game.

“Parkersburg South is a great team and is well coached. We didn’t come out with enough energy. We have to bounce back and will. We have the hardest schedule in the state.”

The score was tied at seven midway through the first quarter.

However, Parkersburg South went on a 20-0 run between the first and second quarter.

Four different players scored during that stretch to give the Patriots a 27-7 lead.

“That was awesome and fun to watch,” Fallon said. “Our length gave them some fits. The biggest thing was our mentality coming into today.”

Huntington didn’t give up at all throughout Thursday’s contest, fighting back from large deficits and adversity, especially the 20-0 run.

Svingos is wanting to see that fire and determination from his group more.

“When we started getting things going, that’s our ideal start,” Svingos said. “Basketball is a game of runs. When our opposition is on their run, we have to do a better job of keeping it together and not letting it get out of hand. It’s doing all the small things.”

A Jamari Tubbs jumper knotted Huntington and Parkersburg South at seven.

South’s 20-0 run was sparked by back-to-back buckets from Cam Fallon then a triple by Taj Joyce. The Patriots went into the break ahead, 15-7.

The run continued in the second quarter with Joyce, Mullen and Harry Silvis all scoring the opening 12 points of the quarter for South.

Mullen led all scorers with 17 points, shooting 7 of 12 from the floor. He also grabbed 11 rebounds.

“I liked how he played with confidence,” Fallon said. “Like I said, we’ve been waiting for that all year. At practice, he’s like that all the time. He’s a mad man. He let loose tonight and went against and played well against two really good players.”

A 10-0 Huntington run late in the frame cut the Patriots deficit to 10, 29-19.

However, a Silvis jumper with five seconds left gave South a 31-19 lead at half.

Silvas finished with 15 points on 6 of 14 shooting and 3 of 7 from three-point range.

Parkersburg South shot 46% from the floor in the opening half and scored 16 of its 31 points in the paint.

The Patriots didn’t slow down in the third quarter as they used a 9-0 run with Mullen netting four of the nine, 42-23.

Huntington scored eight of the final 13 points of the quarter. Yet, the Highlanders still trailed by 16, 47-31, heading into the fourth quarter.

A Tubbs triple with 4:47 left in the game, 56-39. However, the Patriots put the final nail in the coffin by using a 9-0 run to close the game.

Tubbs finished Thursday’s contest with nine points, 11 rebounds and two steals.

Four Patriots finished in double-figures with Navi Hewitt and Taj Joyce being the other two double-digit scorers.

“Those four guys have been doing that the last six or seven games,” Fallon said. “Earlier in the year, we were trying to create our own shots. Now, we’re creating shots for others. We had 11 assists tonight, which is great. All those guys can score and can score in double-figures any given night.”

Huntington’s Taviun Chandler posted a team-high 11 points.