Mar 12, 2025
Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce (5) and the rest of the Patriots celebrate after beating Huntington in Tuesday’s Class AAAA, Region 4 co-final at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
PARKERSBURG — After scoring a 24-point win over Huntington less than a month ago the Parkersburg South Patriots had to like their chances at home against the Highlanders in Tuesday night’s Class AAAA regional co-final.
After a slow start, Huntington looked like a completely different team than the one the Patriots played last month, but in the end the Patriots prevailed once again with a 63-54 win to punch their ticket to the state tournament next week in Charleston.
The win was also a bit of revenge for the Patriots, who were eliminated from the postseason by none other than the Highlanders a year ago.
“Last year they came in here and beat us on our home floor and that left a bad, bad taste in our mouths,” said Parkersburg South head coach Mike Fallon. “These kids put in all the work and overcame so much adversity and I think the ups and downs we have had have kind of got us ready for this moment.”
South got off to a great start sparked by junior Harry Silvis as they led by as many as 14-points in the opening quarter before the Highlanders came charging back in the second quarter.
Parkersburg South head coach Mike Fallon cuts the final part of the net down after the Patriots defeated Huntington in Tuesday’s Class AAAA, Region 4 co-final at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Mike Morrison)
Silvis knocked down a couple of early three-pointers and scored 12 points total in the opening quarter to help the Patriots pull out to a 21-8 lead.
The Patriots held their own early in the second period as a three-point play by Silvis gave them a 12-point lead with six minutes to play before the Highlanders of head coach Lambros Svingos began to come to life.
Using a full court press, the Highlanders were able to rattle South as they forced them into seven turnovers in the second quarter alone, many leading to points on the other end.
That pressure defense coupled with the red-hot shooting of sophomore Pierson Dejneka got Huntington right back into it.
Dejneka’s third triple of the half pulled them to within five with three minutes to play and three free throws in four attempts by senior Taviun Chandler closed the lead to a field goal.
Silvis was fouled on the next South possession and made one of two free throws only to have Huntington’s Isaiah Lapsley answer with a pair of freebies to trim the lead to just one point.
South was in need of a momentum changer and they got just that thanks to Silvis and senior Navi Hewitt.
Hewitt, who had spent a considerable amount of the opening half on the bench due to foul trouble, drove strong to the bucket and finished with a dunk to increase the lead to three.
After the Patriots came up with a huge stop on defense, Silvis beat the buzzer with a step-back three-pointer from well beyond the arc to send South to the intermission with a 34-28 lead.
Huntington continued to provide the pressure in the third period, once again sparked by three more triples by Dejneka as they trailed by just four late in the quarter, but once again the Patriots came up with a huge play in the closing seconds.
This time it was junior Cam Fallon who came up with one of his nine rebounds in the game and then connected on a short jumper as the buzzer sounded to send the Patriots into the final period with a seven-point lead.
Coach Fallon felt those end-of-the-quarter heroics played a huge role in his team’s win.
“Those were a couple of huge plays no doubt about it,” said Fallon. “Those end of the quarter buckets just get the momentum going and Harry (Silvis) hit the big three before the half and Cam (Fallon) hit that one at the end of the third quarter and those are big momentum boosters.”
Dejneka connected on his first six three-pointers in the game and seven field goals overall but finally missed on the Highlanders’ first possession of the fourth quarter.
South made an impressive 21-of-26 from the charity stripe including many in the final quarter as they led by eight at the midway point.
Hewitt came up with the play that served as the dagger as he came up with a steal near mid-court and finished at the other end with a huge dunk to bring the crowd to its feet and give his team a double-digit lead.
“Once we settled back in I thought our kids did a great job,” said Fallon. “I thought in the fourth quarter our kids did an amazing job and we knew with all the pressing that by the end they would be wore out and I think that really paid dividends.”
Huntington came no closer than seven the rest of the way as the Patriots picked up the win to improve to 15-8 on the season.
Silvis led the way for South with 24 points while Taj Joyce added 15.
Hewitt added nine while Cam Fallon and Mason Nutter picked up nine rebounds apiece.
Huntington was led by Dejneka with 21 points and Taviun Chandler with 12.
The Highlanders’ season comes to a close with a 10-13 record while the Patriots will advance to the state tournament next Wednesday when they take on Morgantown at 1 p.m.
“I’m sure Spring Hills is number one and they only beat us by two and Morgantown is number two and we beat them here,” said Fallon. “We feel like we can go in and play with anybody.”
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