Parkersburg South’s Harry Silvis gets ready to launch a 3-pointer while being defended by Spring Valley’s Harrison Riggs (15) during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center in Parkersburg. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG – At close range was definitely not Parkersburg South’s comfort zone.

Friday night at Rod Oldham Athletic Center, four different Patriots combined for 15 3-pointers in an 80-63 win over previously unbeaten Spring Valley.

The Patriots, who remained unbeaten at 3-0, finished the game 15-of-29 (52%) from beyond the arc.

“We can shoot the living daylights out of it,” South coach Mike Fallon said. “We have to make sure, though, we don’t live and die by that.

“After the first quarter, we took a lot of threes there early then we started attacking the paint. Once we started attacking the paint, we got some easy buckets.”

Parkersburg South’s Baron Davis (15) works the perimeter while being guarded by Spring Valley’s Coleson Caldwell (2) during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center in Parkersburg. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Coming off a school record scoring night earlier in the week, South senior Harry Silvis led the team with six threes as part of his game-high 28 points. Teammates Taj Joyce and Cam Fallon followed with four apiece while each contributing 15 points.

A fourth South player – Matt Mullen – also finished in double figures with 11 points.

For Spring Valley, Gavin Perdue finished with a team-high 20 points, while teammate Harrison Riggs was held five points below his season average and after closing out for 15 points despite picking up three fouls in the first four minutes of the game.

Riggs stayed on the court for the rest of the game without picking up a fourth personal.

“We started two ninth graders who have never been in an environment like this – we knew this was going to be tough,” Spring Valley coach Rick Chaffin said. “We had a starting guard out with an injury and we knew there was going to be a little more pressure on us when Riggs picked up his third foul, which kind of took him away from his game.”

Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce, left, drives the lane against Spring Valley’s Nymir Bryant during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center in Parkersburg. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Spring Valley, which opened the preseason with six players showing up for the first day of tryouts, played primarily its starting five the entire night. For the most part, the Timberwolves weren’t fazed by South’s relentless pressure and actually led 25-24 in the opening two minutes of the second quarter.

South then amped it up on the glass and limited Spring Valley to multiple one-and-dones. On the other end, the Patriot offense fell into a rhythm and went on a 13-0 run on the strength of consecutive 3-pointers from Silvis, one set up by a screen from Joyce and another on a fadeaway jumper.

“There is so much Harry can do, he can do anything out there,” South point guard Chase Offenberger said. “He makes everything else easier for everyone out there.”

With the gap at 10 (39-29) and the clock under 30 seconds, Baron Davis at the top of the circle found Fallon at the wing for a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

After halftime, South went three crazy – hitting 7-of-10 from beyond the arc in the third quarter while extending its lead to 60-43 with just less than four minutes remaining in the period.

Parkersburg South boys basketball coach Mike Fallon, far left, yells instructions to his team during Friday’s game against Spring Valley at Rod Oldham Athletic Center in Parkersburg. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The gap reached as many as 22 points at 72-50 in the early stages of the fourth quarter before Spring Valley put together one last gasp and sliced the deficit to 75-61 on a kick-out to Perdue with three-plus minutes still showing on the clock.

On South’s next offensive possession, Fallon and a Spring Valley player were whistled for a double-foul for their physical play. When the ball was put back in play, Fallon’s 3-swish from the corner was essentially the back-breaker for the Timberwolves.

His father figures Cam’s golf success has helped him mature and come through in clutch situations.

“Actually, I think the golf has helped him a lot from a mental standpoint,” Coach Fallon said. “Last year, he might have probably continued to push the guy. I think he has grown up. All the seniors have grown up a bunch. Really, they want to win more than anything else.”

Even though it’s just three games into the regular season, it’s been several years since South carries an unbeaten record into the holiday portion of its schedule. Not a bad present to unwrap especially with several high-level opponents approaching.

Among the members from the (Parkersburg) South Psychos student section making life rough for the Spring Valley players during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center are James Thompson, left, and Austin Carter. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

South forced six turnovers while committing just six of its own.

“It seems like a long time since we’ve been 3-0 – the last couple of years we had a losing record going into Christmas,” coach Fallon said. “Just from a confidence angle, that helps a lot. From a defensive standpoint we may not be where we want to be, but offensively we are a little bit ahead of where we’ve been in the past.

“Our transition defense was not very good tonight. We lost some guys in transition and they were able to get some easy buckets. We can’t afford to do that against good teams.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentnel.com