Parkersburg South senior Harry Silvis scored a game-high 25 points as the Patriots defeated Cabell Midland 63-52, Tuesday at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG — Once the torch was passed, eventually Harry Silvis took off and ran with it.

Tuesday night in a game with Cabell Midland at Rod Oldham Athletic Center, pre-game ceremonies began with honoring the eight senior players on the Parkersburg South boys basketball team and its team manager then parading out to halfcourt the five coaches in the history of South boys basketball — which began in 1967.

It was also a moment to recognize Silvis’ achievement as the all-time scorer in school history.

In South’s previous game against Riverside, Silvis surpassed the former mark of 1,257 points turned in during Matt Shamblin’s career as a Patriot. Shamblin also participated in the pre-game festivities and handed Silvis a basketball commemorating the achievement.

Hugs were exchanged between the two elite scorers, along with a message: Duplicate Shamblin’s senior year when South won a state title in 2003.

Former career scoring leader at Parkersburg South, Matt Shamblin (left) hands Patriots senior Harry Silvis a game ball commemorating Silvis becoming the all-time scoring leader in program history during a pre-game ceremony, Tuesday at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“Becoming the all-time scorer here at South means a lot — obviously, it is a huge accomplishment,” Silvis said. “But I have to give credit to my teammates. They obviously pass me the ball and trust me. Same with my coaches. They put me out there on the floor.

“Shamblin broke the record winning the state championship. That’s my goal. I want to go win the state championship for our team. When we met on the court, he just said congratulations and go try to win a championship now.”

Against Cabell Midland, however, the first half was un-Silvis like and un-Parkersburg South like as the Knights kept within shouting distance trailing 29-24. Cabell Midland cut the deficit to one at 31-30 midway in the third quarter. South immediately called timeout and the Patriots responded.

Especially Silvis, who scored 20 of his game-high 25 points in the second half as the South pulled away for a 63-52 victory.

“I don’t know if I felt it, but I was able to get downhill more in the second half,” Silvis said. “It wasn’t the best shooting night for me, along with all of our team. We just have to put this behind us and keep getting better.

Pictured is the basketball given to Parkersburg South’s Harry Silvis recognizing the senior as the all-time scoring leader in program history. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

South improves to 14-3 and clinches a share of the Mountain State Athletic Conference. The Patriots sit at 8-1 in the league with one MSAC game remaining.

Cabell Midland slips to 7-8 and 3-6 in the MSAC. The Knights took advantage of South’s 1-for-7 shooting to start the second half with consecutive buckets from Ayden Spence and Eli Thompson which narrowed the deficit to 31-30.

To use a baseballism, there’s quality starts and quality at bats. Well, South coach Mike Fallon added one under the quality timeout column. Out of the break, South went on a 13-0 run – which included a pair of Silvis 3-pointers.

“We’ve got a lot of kid leadership, like Harry, Taj (Joyce) and Matt (Mullen) — during the timeout they were talking themselves through it, which is huge,” Fallon said. “There’s no need to yell and scream — we just get them focused. Then you have a guy like that (in reference to Silvis) that you can say ‘All, right, put us on your back. Let’s go.’

“We told him to get downhill and get to the free throw line. When he did that, it seemed like it just took off from there.”

Joining the eight senior players on the Parkersburg South boys basketball team recognized prior to Tuesday’s game with Cabell Midland at Rod Oldham Athletic Center is team manager Logan Houdyshell (12). Accompanying Houdyshell is mother, Melody (left), and sister (Kinley). (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

South led 45-34 to start the fourth period then reeled off seven unanswered points, including five from Matt Mullen who ended the night with 15 points. During a two-plus minute span later in the period, Silvis accounted for all 11 South points which left Cabell Midland in the rear view mirror and the lead at its peak at 63-43.

“We were right there halfway through the third quarter then Silvis took over,” Cabell Midland coach Corey Woomer said. “We had great defense a couple of times and guarding him real tight, and he just hit some incredible shots. We tried a couple of different things tonight and it worked in the first half. His shots weren’t falling, but then you see in the second half when a player of his caliber gets hot he is tough to stop.

“A couple of times he would hit some of those shots and our guys would just look over to us. We just had to keep encouraging them because on a couple of shots there was nothing else you could do.”

Taj Joyce also scored in double figures with 10 points, including two on a baseline drive which saw him leave the ground full-tilt for a two-handed slam dunk.

For Cabell Midland, Samuel Phillips scored nine of his team-high 12 points in the fourth quarter. Marshall Summers added eight points.

Parkersburg South’s Logan Graham (22) is guarded by Cabell Midland’s Marshall Summers during Tuesday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“I’m really proud of our guys,” Woomer said. “This gym is known as a very hard place to play. It was rocking tonight — they had a lot of stuff going on with senior night and all the cheerleading teams.

“I’m proud of how we finished the game. This was a good matchup, a good test for us. Ultimately, we did come up short, but I think we proved that we could play. I feel like we gave them all they could handle.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com