Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce (5) attacks the basket as Morgantown’s Brady Savage (32) and Waylon Colistra (31) defend during Wednesday’s Class AAAA state quarterfinal game at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

CHARLESTON — Mike Fallon struggled to find the right words to describe how tough it is for Parkersburg South’s 2024-25 campaign to come to an end.

Fallon was emotional during the postgame press conference following the Patriots’ 59-50 loss to Morgantown during Wednesday’s Class AAAA state quarterfinals at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

“Frustration. It hurts,” Fallon said before taking a long pause and regrouping. “This is a different group of kids. We’ve had some tough times, but a lot of good times. We’ve been up and down this year. At times they could’ve folded, but they didn’t. They fought adversity this year between injuries and trying to find ourselves. This one hurts as much as any of the others.”

Though the second-seeded Mohigans prevailed by nine, this was no ordinary 2 vs. 7 matchup. The Patriots handed MHS a 60-51 loss a little less than a month ago and knew they could compete with the three-time defending state champs.

Cam Fallon’s basket and-1 tied the game at 48-all with 3:17 left in the fourth. Morgantown, however, closed the game on an 11-2 run to secure the victory.

Parkersburg South's Navi Hewitt makes a move with the ball during Wednesday's Class AAAA state quarterfinals against Morgantown. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“In this environment, when it starts going this way,” coach Fallon said while leaning to his right, “it’s hard to swing the pendulum back. You keep fighting, but once that momentum swings it’s hard to get it back.”

South’s Navi Hewitt, who led all scorers with 19 points, added “it’s a game of runs and they got the last one.”

Hewitt had the hot hand early, scoring 15 of the Patriots’ first 16 points, including three 3-pointers and a fastbreak dunk, as South trailed 17-16 at the 5:33 mark in the second.

“Tried to exploit mismatches,” said Hewitt, who led a PSHS offensive attack that finished 40.9% (18 for 44) from the floor and 25% (5 for 20) from 3. “We had some guys circled in the scouting report to go after. My teammates hit me on some open shots and that took us a long way.”

Morgantown led by as many as four in the second quarter, but baskets by Taj Joyce and Matthew Mullen knotted it up at 24-24 at halftime.

Parkersburg South's Mason Nutter (0) drives with the ball during Wednesday's Class AAAA state quarterfinals against Morgantown. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

Harry Silvis, who finished with 10 points, knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers early in the third to put South up 30-27. Later, a layup by Mullen and a pair of foul shots by Hewitt gave the Patriots a four-point lead, but Morgantown closed the period on an 8-3 run to lead 40-39 with eight minutes to play.

Mason Nutter’s behind-the-back pass set up Mullen on a layup to open the fourth and give South its final lead. Waylon Colistra, who led the Mohigans with 16 points, tied the game on a free throw before Demarcus Bandy’s 3-pointer put Morgantown up 44-41.

After Cam Fallon’s three-point play, Max Frey responded on the other end with a 3-ball put MHS in front for good with 3:05 left.

South went scoreless for the two minutes and 47 seconds until a pair of free throws by Silvis cut it to 55-50 with 30 seconds left. Marty Johnson hit a pair of freebies on the other end, and after a missed 3-pointer by South, Johnson knocked down two more foul shots to deliver the final score.

Johnson made just one field goal but had 11 points after going 9 for 16 from the foul line. The Mohigans finished 13 for 26 from the stripe while the Patriots were 9 for 11.

Frey and Bandy scored 12 and 11 points, respectively, while Brady Savage chipped in nine points and game-highs with 14 rebounds and five assists. Morgantown (20-2) was 53.8% (21 for 39) from the floor and outrebounded South 32-20.

Joyce finished with eight points and a team-high six boards for South. The Patriots (15-9) will graduate Hewitt and Nutter, who both fouled out late in the fourth, plus Kayden Marshall off this year’s squad.

“We will be back,” coach Fallon said.