Parkersburg South senior Taj Joyce receives a hug from assistant coach Mark Cothern following the Patriots’ 74-45 win over Woodrow Wilson, Wednesday in a Class AAAA South Regional Championship game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG — If the carry-over from losing in the first round at last year’s state tournament is anything like sitting on the bench because of foul trouble, Parkersburg South just might get the best Taj Joyce he can possibly be.

And that’s a dangerous omen for Patriot opponents as they prepare for next week’s return to Charleston.

Wednesday night in a Class AAAA, South Regional championship game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center, Joyce sat out 11-plus minutes of the first half after picking up a second personal foul then returned to the floor in the second half and dissected Woodrow Wilson on both ends of the floor as South defeated the Flying Eagles 74-45.

Joyce scored 21 of his game-high 27 points after a tight affair in the first half and completed his double-double with 12 rebounds to go with three assists.

“Getting two fouls early really killed me — when I got benched it just hurt,” Joyce said. “It was like, I know how to get back and push through. In the second half, I was just doing what we go through in practice.”

Parkersburg South’s Harry Silvis (10) defends Woodrow Wilson’s Jahden Robinson (32) during Wednesday’s Class AAAA South Regional Championship game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

South (18-5) earned the No. 4 seed for the state tournament in Charleston and will meet No. 4 Washington in a Class AAAA quarterfinal game scheduled for 9 p.m. Thursday.

“I’m excited,” South coach Mike Fallion said. “Like I told the kids before tonight’s game, this is what you work all summer for. When we are on you for picking up trash in the locker room and on the bench — that stuff matters. Now is when that stuff will translate.

“We figured we would be a four or five and play Washington, so we have been watching film on them. Not to get too far ahead, we were also watching film on Woodrow. The way this is set up, we probably won’t start hitting Washington until Monday because we don’t want to overwhelm them. The other thing is they need to enjoy this experience.”

South enters the final phase of the postseason without several players who either start or have seen starts throughout the regular season, including post player Matthew Mullen who broke his kneecap and underwent surgery on Tuesday. Bowen Rader was also street clothes.

Accompanied with his crutches, Mullen’s appearance in the gym against Woodrow Wilson gave teammates like Harry Silvis extra reason to surge through in a game which he became the school’s single-season record holder for most 3-pointers made.

George Washington’s Dominic Sprouse (left) defends against Parkersburg’s Quinten Wilson during their Class AAAA South Region co-final on Wednesday at George Washington High School in Charleston. (Photo by Rick Ryan/For the Gazette-Mail)

“The 3-pointer has been my go-to since day one here at South,” Silvis said. “I remember my very first shot on this floor was a catch-and-shoot three, of course. That’s been my bread and butter. So having the record means a lot.”

The senior surpassed the old record of 84 shared with two others on his first three of the game and ended the night with five as part of his 19 points. He also collected eight rebounds.

“We really want to make a run this year — we really believe we can do it,” Silvis said. “We have a reason to win it and that’s for Matt. It was tough knowing that Matt went down like that. It was a lot, you know. He worked hard. He played with pain throughout the year, but he fought through it.

“Unfortunately, it caught up with him and it was a lot for us. We had to take a practice or two to really bring ourselves back and gather our thoughts. The past couple of days we were really dialed in.”

South needed some semblance of offense after shooting just 18% (3-of-17) from the floor in the first quarter and Woodrow trailing by just one at 10-9.

Joyce scored South’s first six points of the game and after exiting the floor with foul trouble, Silvis found the hot hand in the second quarter and knocked down three 3-pointers and accounted for all but four of the Patriots’ 17 points as the Flying Eagles fell behind 27-19 at intermission.

“We took some bad shots and took a lot of threes to start, then we started to get into a rhythm in the second quarter,” Silvis said.

With a full complement of players on the floor for the start of the second half, South went to work — especially on the defensive end while causing six turnovers which played a vital role in a 14-0 run which gave the Patriots a 43-23 lead.

On one series, Joyce rebounded his own 3-point miss and with the lane completely clear went up for the two-handed slam.

“Taj has been playing outstanding offensively the past two games — no doubt, he is our best offensive player,” Silvis said. “He got a couple of dumb fouls and I was mad at him a little bit. I told him, ‘We need you.’

“It was great seeing things working in the second half. My main strength is outside shooting. I got a lot of people hugging me on the perimeter, so we draw up a lot of plays where Taj is getting downhill.”

Woodrow Wilson ends the campaign at 9-11. Lucas Rainey with 10 points was the lone Flying Eagle reaching double figures.

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com