Parkersburg South’s Matthew Mullen goes up for a basket as Parkersburg’s Karson Gooch (0) and Jaxon Thomas (12) defend during Saturday’s game at Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

PARKERSBURG — Don’t be surprised if some of the Parkersburg South boys basketball players decide to run in the annual News and Sentinel Half Marathon in August.

They’re well-trained for it.

After playing a pair of overtime games this week against two of the top teams in the state, South capped a grueling week with a 66-55 victory over rival Parkersburg Saturday at Memorial Fieldhouse.

“We didn’t play very well tonight,” said South head coach Mike Fallon. “We’ve went overtime with Huntington (71-68 win) on Tuesday, then went overtime with Morgantown (68-66 loss) on Thursday. We were home at almost midnight on Tuesday. We got home at 1 in the morning on Thursday, and then tried to practice and stuff. It’s been a tough stretch, but the good thing is that little stretch is over.”

The Patriots (7-2) struggled to find their shooting legs and went 1 for 12 from beyond the arc, but they got plenty of offense inside from Matthew Mullen. Mullen scored a career-high 22 points and also tallied seven rebounds and four assists.

Parkersburg’s Quinten Wilson, right, makes a move with the ball as Parkersburg South’s Matthew Mullen (0) and Harry Silvis defend during Saturday’s game at Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

“It’s a rivalry game,” Mullen said. “Everyone comes in. It’s hype. It’s loud. It’s good to play in. We got in the paint. Shots weren’t falling tonight. That’s going to happen. Just got to get it in the paint.”

Parkersburg (2-6) tasked Jaxon Thomas and Sutton Stanley with defending South standouts Harry Silvis and Taj Joyce. Joyce finished with 12 points while Silvis added 11 as the Big Reds made it their mission to keep those guys from taking over. However, it led to some golden opportunities for Mullen.

“Matthew played so well,” Fallon said. “The other night against Morgantown, I think he had one point, but he did a lot of other things that nobody else saw but us on film and stuff. Tonight, when they tried to take Harry and Taj away, Matt became a man inside. He’s capable of that on any night.”

PHS head coach Phil Wilson discussed his team’s defensive strategy.

“It was a two-for-one trade, right? If we didn’t want Harry to get hot and we didn’t want Taj to get hot — we got to take them out of the game,” Wilson said. “I think (Mullen’s) averaging nine points a game. He’s a big body. The defense we were running, we knew we were going to give up rebounds, but we didn’t know he was going to go for 22.”

Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce (5) guards Parkersburg Jaxon Thomas (12) during Saturday’s game at Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jordan Holland)

The bulk of Parkersburg’s offense came from Chandler Jackson and Quinten Wilson. Jackson produced a 22-point, 12-rebound double-double while Wilson added 19 points. Thomas tallied a game-high eight steals to go along with eight points.

“JT and Sutton Stanley were two that really stuck out to me,” coach Wilson said. “They had to have the pleasure of guarding Taj and Harry. For them to do that for an entire game and take them out of the game, that was big-time.”

Despite some outside shooting woes, South ended up going 49% (27 for 55) from the floor. The Patriots got a spark off the bench from Logan Graham, who finished with 12 points. Six of those points came during South’s 10-0 run in the second quarter. Up 11-9 after the first period, the Patriots outscored the Big Reds 17-4 in the second to take a 28-13 advantage into halftime.

PHS came out inspired in the second half and began the third quarter with a 10-0 run, which included consecutive three-point plays by Jackson and Wilson, to cut the deficit to five. Joyce answered with a basket-and-one, and South put together another 10-0 run to stretch the lead back to 16, 41-25. It was 48-36 going into the fourth.

At the 5:17 mark, both teams scrambled for a loose ball. Silvis gathered the ball from his knees and made a nifty underhand pass to Joyce, who went up strong for a hoop-and-harm. He added the freebie to complete the three-point play and put South up 55-38.

Wilson hit a desperation 3-ball with a minute left to make it 62-50, but PHS was unable to get within single digits as the Patriots closed it out.

The Big Reds are back at home on Tuesday when they look to snap a four-game skid against Cabell Midland.

“Just keep building off this,” coach Wilson said. “Sometimes you can win through losing. This is a big win through losing for us. Now we just got to make sure that we build off this and don’t go backwards. You can’t get stagnant. Let’s get back into the lab, and now let’s win these games that we’re losing.”

Parkersburg South, which has won 15 straight meetings with PHS, visits Hurricane on Tuesday.

“Harry, Matt and Taj probably have ran a half marathon this week in the minutes they played,” Fallon laughed. “Give a lot of credit to them. It’s always tough to come in here and win, so give them credit.”

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@newsandsentinel.com.