Parkersburg’s Chandler Jackson, middle, passes the ball off while being guarded by Ripley’s Blake Justice (20) and Matthew Stellato (0) during Tuesday’s game at Parkersburg High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG – The Parkersburg boys basketball season entered the holiday season on a much happier note than Phil Wilson’s first two seasons as coach of the Big Reds.

Playing a majority of its games in the early portion of the season on the road, PHS opened 0-5 the past two years. Following Tuesday’s 66-61 win over Ripley in their home opener, the Big Reds evened their record at 2-2.

“Honestly, I was just happy to be back home on our fourth game of the season – the last two seasons we were on the road for like the first five or six games,” Wilson said. “We are 2-2, so we can build on that.”

In a back-and-forth game through three quarters, PHS finally established itself in the early stages of the fourth quarter with a 15-4 run which left Ripley trailing 63-55 with two-plus minutes remaining in regulation.

Senior Mathias Williams carried the scoring load while scoring eight of his 16 points in the final quarter.

Parkersburg’s Quinten Wilson (25) drives downcourt while being defended by Ripley’s Kyler Doss during Tuesday’s game at Parkersburg High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Williams buried Ripley in the post, while teammate Chandler Jackson exposed Ripley along the perimeter – especially in the first half. Jackson scored 18 of his game-high 28 points before intermission as the two teams entered the break tied at 32-32.

“I tell the guys all the time, I don’t care who scores the ball,” Wilson said. “Chandler carried us in the first half and Mathias scored us in the second half, but I keep trying to get them to understand that in order for us to be successful, it doesn’t matter who scores the basketball.

“It can change every night. It can change every game – just score the basketball and get the ‘W’.”

Ripley entered the contest averaging 34 3-point attempts per game. The Vikings followed the same script against PHS but made good on just 5-of-31 (16%) from beyond the arc.

As PHS was making its run at the start of the fourth quarter, Ripley couldn’t buy a shot to fall and finished the period converting just 1-of-12 3-point attempts.

Ripley’s Brady McVey (1) tries to escape the shadows of Parkersburg defender Quinten Wilson (25) during Tuesday’s game at Parkersburg High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“For us to be successful we have to be able to shoot the ball from three extremely well, and that just didn’t happen tonight,” Ripley coach Derek Mullins said. “We are going to keep getting better. We have a bunch of older guys that are hungry and want to get back to where we were last year. But it takes time to get where we need to get and feel confident. The shots are going to fall eventually.

“I could see it in their eyes in the locker room when we started talking about how guys need to start getting in the gym more compared to last year. It just hasn’t happened yet this year. I kind of challenged them.”

Not helping matters was PHS’ taking care of a majority of its shot opportunities – finishing the game at 58% (28-of-48) from the floor.

“We knew PHS had good shooters and we let a couple of them get open, and a couple of them get hot,” Mullins said. “They shot the ball well and hats off to them.”

Parker Smith at 6-foot-3 led Ripley with 18 points, while Blake Justice added 12 points before fouling out at the 1:46 mark of the fourth quarter.

Parkersburg’s Mathias Williams looks to score during Tuesday’s high school boys basketball game against Ripley at Parkersburg High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Justice’s fifth foul was a result of an offensive charge and Ripley attempting to cut into a 63-58 deficit. Out of a timeout, the ensuing Big Reds’ offensive possession ate 35 seconds off the clock.

Even though PHS did not score, Ripley was limited to one-and-done opportunities on its next two possessions. The Big Reds threw down the hammer when Quinten Wilson’s baseball pass downcourt to Williams for the easy lay-in increased the margin to 65-58 and only 15 seconds remaining on the clock.

“Ripley offensively wanted to speed us up, so our job was real simple – let them speed themselves up and we will guard the 3-point line,” Wilson said. “I thought we did a halfway decent job.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newandsentinel.com

Ripley’s Blake Justice (20) dribbles downcourt during Tuesday’s high school boys basketball game at Parkersburg High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Parkersburg boys basketball coach Phil Wilson, right, checks in with an official following a technical against one of the Big Reds' players during Tuesday’s game against Ripley at Parkersburg High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)