PARKERSBURG — Staying aggressive even in the most unpredictable situations is a value that the Parkersburg South boys basketball team showcased Tuesday evening in their overwhelming 81-69 victory over Capital, a victory in which Patriot Harry Silvis scored a school-record 44 points to lead the Patriots to a 2-0 start to their season.

Coming off of a blowout win against Linsly last Thursday, the Patriots came into Tuesday’s game with a sense of unpreparedness due to recent weather complications which delayed practices for two days, a factor that challenged South to overcome adversity when facing the Cougars.

“We’ve been out of school the last two days and that really threw us out of whack,” said Parkersburg South coach Mike Fallon. “We had prepared a bit Saturday for today’s game, and we had planned on really going over things on Monday which obviously didn’t happen, but we knew what we had to do to persevere nonetheless.”

The Patriots began the game with immediate showings of control over the court, taking the first possession off of the tip-off and gaining their first points of the night with a long-range 3-pointer by Silvis off of a pass by fellow senior Chase Offenberger, his first points of an historic night.

The Cougars would struggle against the Patriots in the first quarter, falling victim to a scheme based around pure pressure and aggressiveness that resulted in a Patriot 22-10 lead going into the second quarter and a 12-point start for Silvis, also giving Parkersburg South’s Matthew Mullen his first three rebounds of an eight-rebound performance.

“The way we started the game really helped us realize what we could do in today’s game,” said Fallon. “The quickness we practiced is how we want to play as a team and we can really appreciate that.”

The second quarter would start with an immediate foul by South that gave the Cougars the opportunity to score a quick and easy field goal, but that momentum would be short lived as the Patriots caused two straight turnovers to score another 22 points compared to Capital’s 19.

The Patriots would fire immediately in the third quarter with a contested long-range 3-pointer by Silvis that perfectly represented the attitude based upon grit and determination in which the Patriots played with for the entirety of the night, followed by a rare and short-lived scoring period for the Cougars that decreased the Patriots’ lead to 10 with a score of 50-40.

Parkersburg South would dismantle this comeback effort almost immediately, only allowing a single 3-pointer in the last five minutes of the third and steamrolling their way through the opposing offense with eye-catching swat blocks by defensive star senior Taj Joyce and cementing their dominating storyline before the final quarter had even begun.

“We’ve got the kind of team that can just apply as much pressure as we can both offensively and defensively at any time, which really helped us through today,” said Fallon.

The Cougars would continue to try and shorten the Patriots’ lead in the fourth by upping their aggressiveness, but this aggressiveness would only result in over eight fouls and a giving Silvis the opportunity to finish out his historic day with 12 free throws to bring his total points to 44, a testament to what fans of the Patriots can expect going forward.

“I love these kids and they know what they’re capable of,” said Fallon. “We know that hard work pays off and I want us to keep digging and stop listening to outside noise in order to achieve the great things we know we’re capable of.”

The Patriots will aim to continue their winning streak when they host Spring Valley this Friday at 7 p.m.