Parkersburg South's Harry Silvis, who scored a game-high 30 points during the Patriots' 83-64 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory versus Riverside Saturday afternoon inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center, gets hit on the way to the hole by Rocco Terry. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

PARKERSBURG – Mother Nature turned Saturday basketball inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center into a Mountain State Athletic Conference twinbill for host Parkersburg South and the Patriots didn’t disappoint as the girls turned back Huntington, 52-44, before the boys handed Riverside an 83-64 setback.

Harry Silvis pumped in 18 of his game-high 30 points after intermission as teammate Taj Joyce, who got into foul trouble, tallied all 15 of his counters in an opening half where the Warriors trailed 21-8 after one and 35-17 at the break.

Although the Warriors put up 19 in the third, South delivered a 27-point stanza that was bookended by 3s from Logan Graham and Silvis to forge a commanding 65-46 edge entering the fourth.

Graham finished with 10 points while the hosts also received nine markers from Matthew Mullen and eight by Xavier St. Andry as the No. 4 squad in Class AAAA improved to 13-3 with senior night set for Tuesday versus No. 9 Cabell Midland.

“I think we shot ourselves in the foot I don’t know how many times on turnovers and doing silly stuff. Out of the norm and stuff,” admitted South head coach Mike Fallon. “Those are good learning experiences, especially with Chase (Offenberger) out and stuff. I told (assistant coach) Zac (Grossenbacher) before the game started.

Parkersburg South's Drew Blough drives into the paint while being guarded by Riverside's DaVon Brockman during the Patriots' 83-64 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“We watched them play three or four times and whether they are down 19 or five, they are playing just as hard all the time. They are well coached and he (Jacob Billanti) does such a good job with those guys. We knew they were going to bounce back and come at us and everything. It was definitely a battle.”

Bryer Mullins led the now 5-7 Warriors, who play host on Tuesday to Oak Hill, with 18 points. Rocco Terry had 16 counters while Isaiah Coles and Bryce Slack chipped in nine points apiece.

Parkersburg South, which received eight rebounds from Silvis and Cam Fallon while Terry and Josh Brock also grabbed eight caroms, bolted out to a 13-2 lead to take control early.

Joyce opened the scoring 64 seconds in with a driving lay-in and that was followed by a Mullen three-point play and then a trifecta from Joyce, who then added a three-point play of his own following a St. Andry deuce.

“We had a shootaround this morning,” coach Fallon said of not having practice on Friday after the game was pushed back a day. “I think that’s one of the biggest things. We still haven’t played well yet, but we can’t get in a routine because we are in school one out of every 10 days. Hopefully the next couple weeks we get into that routine because we got some big ones coming up now. I still think we got a high ceiling to get to. We’ll get there. We’re not there yet.”

Parkersburg South's Quinn Bolyard uses a crossover dribble to elude the defense of Huntington's LaLa Sloan during the Patriots' 52-44 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

In the girl’s affair that featured the No. 2 Patriots and the No. 9 Highlanders, it was definitely a tale of two halves as the hosts dominated the opening quarter, 21-8, and appeared to be in more than solid shape with a 35-17 intermission advantage.

However, the 10-7 Highlanders of veteran boss Lonnie Lucas had other ideas and closed the gap to 44-33 entering the fourth. Ava Gallion, who had a team-high 14 points and a game-high five dimes, drained two 3s in the period while LaLa Sloan and Liz Bohren had a pair of field goals apiece.

Parkersburg South, now 12-2 with another MSAC showdown set for Wednesday at No. 8 Cabell Midland, got some breathing room to open the fourth when Lindsey Logston assisted on an Emilee Owens make and a Grace Dotson putback made it 48-33 with 6:41 remaining.

Quinn Bolyard, who had 11 points at halftime, led all scorers with 17. Logston, who had seven boards, three steals as many assists and a pair of blocks, put up all 10 of her points in the first half while Dotson doubled-doubled with 12 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.

Sloan finished with nine points and Bohren had eight to go along with a game-high six blocked shots. Bohren also joined teammate Jahmaeya Harris with 11 rebounds.

Parkersburg South's Grace Dotson prepares to utilize a spin move against Huntington's Jahmaeya Harris during the Patriots' 52-44 Mountain State Athletic Conference victory Saturday afternoon inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“They are really good. I mean Gallion and Sloan are all-state material and we knew we would have our hands full,” admitted PSHS head man Ed Davis, whose squad will face the Highlanders at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in the Country Roads Shootout at West Virginia State University. “We probably played better in the first half than we had at any point this year. We were moving the ball, attacking and man defense was really good. Give them credit.

“The press bothered us and I thought we hurried a little bit. They went to a halfcourt trap, which they played some against us last year, but we hadn’t seen it on film this year. Give them credit. I mean they hurried us up and forced us into some rushed shots and turnovers there. It’s what they’ve done all year. They found a way when things weren’t perfect. Give them a lot of credit for Huntington’s defensive effort in the second half.”

Huntington, which missed 17 of 20 from beyond the arc, heads Wednesday to top-ranked George Washington.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com