Parkersburg’s Chandler Jackson (2) is surrounded by a host of Parkersburg South defenders, including Logan Graham (22), Chase Offenberger (2) and Matthew Mullen during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG — With the status of games for the week ahead in limbo due to inclement weather, Parkersburg South’s boys basketball coach Mike Fallon has the ideal solution for keeping his players conditioned. Shoveling snow.

The directive might be serving a dual purpose after Fallon was visibly upset with his team’s performance down the stretch during Friday’s 63-47 win over Parkersburg High School at Rod Oldham Athletic Center.

The Patriots led by as many as 23 points with two-plus minutes remaining in regulation before Big Reds junior Chandler Jackson outscored South 9-2 to close out the game.

“I’m not pleased with how we ended the game, and that’s twice this has happened – there was no sense of that happening,” said Fallon after his club improved to 10-3 and extended the program’s winning streak over PHS to 16 straight games. “Our goal is to win it all – not to just win this game, so that stuff has to be cleaned up. Those are things that cost us the St. Albans game.

“We need to have total focus. I think sometimes we look at records and stop. But teams are going to come out and play hard.”

Parkersburg South’s Harry Silvis (10) defends Parkersburg’s Connor Jackson during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PHS (3-9) stayed within shouting distance up until the final two minutes of the third quarter. South closed out the period converting scores on three straight possessions as part of a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 46-28.

“We have to learn to slow the ball down,” PHS coach Phil Wilson said. “South is the kind of team that wants to speed it up.”

“When you walk into this gym, it feels like you are already down 10 to 15 points. And that’s what I had to tell the kids – assume we are down 10 points and don’t even look at it as being zero to zero.”

After being held to three points in the first half, South’s leading scorer Harry Silvis took over the game for the first three-plus minutes of the fourth quarter as he accounted for the team’s first 10 points. The senior finished with a team-high 22 points.

Silvis was joined in double figures by classmate Taj Joyce with 16 points and sophomore starter Logan Graham with 15 points.

Parkersburg South’s Logan Graham, left, reaches around Parkersburg’s Jaxon Thomas while trying to steal the ball during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“Harry has become such a leader for us,” Fallon said. “He does a lot of the talking and he settles us down and tells the guys if they are open they have to shoot it.

“It’s been pretty cool watching him grow.”

For PHS, Jackson led all scorers with 25 points. His steal and ensuing breakaway layup followed by another free throw midway in the second quarter put the Big Reds within a point at 15-14 and on the brink of taking their first lead of the game

“Chandler just wants to win,” Wilson said. “He leaves it all on the court and gives it everything he has for every second he plays. I don’t think we subbed him out for even a second tonight.”

Joyce made sure the lead didn’t flip-flop as he contributed a one-handed slam and two free throws to a 6-0 spurt. PHS never drew closer than three points the rest of the way.

Parkersburg’s Quentin Wilson in the foreground is joined by Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce while waiting on free throw attempts during Friday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“It’s not that we played a bad game, we just couldn’t get it to within a certain range. If we did then all of a sudden their lead ballooned out again.”

Both sides committed a slew of turnovers especially in the first quarter – a combined 14 to be exact – as they were trying to settle in. The Big Reds took better care of the ball in the second half and turned it over just four times as opposed to 10 for the Patriots, who made the majority of their mistakes down the stretch.

In the first meeting between the two programs, South’s Matt Mullen stepped to the forefront with 22 points. Silvis finished with 13 and was well behind that pace at halftime on Friday.

“I feel like we did a good job containing (Silvis), but at the end he kind of went off — which we knew he was going to do,” Jackson said. “For us offensively, if we just settle down we play fine. I mean, we competed with one of the top teams in the state.”

If South’s game Tuesday at South Charleston is postponed, they are not scheduled for live action again until Feb. 6 at home against Riverside.

The South Side Psychos do a parody of an ESPN television broadcast during Friday’s high school boys basketball game between Parkersburg and Parkersburg South at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“The thing that scares me about being out of the gym that long is conditioning,” Fallon said. “I’m going to make them shovel snow (in the interim) and they are going to send me videos showing they are shoveling snow.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com