Defensive switch propels Patriots past Black Eagles, 52-45 | News, Sports, Jobs

Written by on January 19, 2025


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Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce (5) goes up for a shot against South Charleston’s Roman Kellum (11) during Saturday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center in Parkersburg.
(Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG – ’55’ is Parkersburg South’s bread-and-butter when it comes to pace of play in high school boys basketball.

After South Charleston was beating South at its own game for the entire first quarter, the Patriots made a change on the fly and went to a seldom-used 3-2 zone to curb the Black Eagles’ athleticism.

The decision had South coach Mike Fallon looking like a genius as his club limited South Charleston to 26 points over the final three quarters in a 52-45 win over the seventh-ranked Black Eagles.

During their current three-game winning streak, defense has been the Patriots’ M.O. while limiting opponents to 38 points per contest.

“We can go into different defenses like we did tonight,” coach Fallon said after his ninth-ranked Patriots improved to 5-3. “There are a lot of different things that we are able to do with these guys.

Parkersburg South’s Harry Silvis, right, dives to the floor to force a tie-up with a South Charleston player during Saturday’s game at Rod Oldham Athletic Center.
(Photo by Kerry Patrick)

“We knew South Charleston was athletic; we knew their bench wasn’t very deep. We kept running with them in the first quarter – we knew could take out lumps, but we stayed in it … you saw some of their kids hanging on their shorts there in the third quarter.”

The extended break high school teams has experienced due to the weather may have been the best medicine for Taj Joyce, who had a breakout night after trying to get his sea legs back from football and get cleared from concussion protocol.

The 6-foot-6 junior scored a game-high 15 points, including a 7-of-8 performance from the free-throw line. Teammate Navi Hewitt added 10 points, while Cameron Fallon came off the bench for a significant amount of minutes as part of his nine points.

“Taj is finally coming out of his shell – that’s the Taj we expected for the whole year,” coach Fallon said. “With football and the concussion protocol, he struggled a little bit early. But he has found himself. In practice he just has a different look in his eye. He attacks practice a little more differently than he has.”

In the first quarter, South Charleston scored the final eight points of the period and pulled ahead 19-10 on 8-of-15 shooting (53%). When South switched its gameplan in time for the start of the second quarter, the Black Eagles made just 11-of-37 (30%) the rest of the way.

Three South Charleston players scored in double figures, including Zane Saunders with a team-high 12 points. Elijah Martin and Malcom Brown each contributed 11 points. As the SC starting point guard, Brown scored five points in the first quarter but was plagued with foul trouble throughout and eventually picked up his fifth personal with 58 seconds remaining in regulation and South leading 49-45.

“We’re much better right now in a broken court, but I also thought when we were in the half court offense in the first quarter it was really good, too,” South Charleston coach coach Josh Daniel said after his team’s three-game winning streak. “When we got South out of their man and went zone, we really struggled a lot. It’s been a common theme for us this year.

“After that first quarter, their defense had a lot to do with it. We just struggled to find any rhythm. Teams that we have played so far zone us and we haven’t handled it great. Tonight was just another example of that.”

South opened the game 0-for-its-first-8 from beyond the arc and trailed 25-15 before Fallon knocked down a trey at the 2:22 mark of the second quarter.

Joyce added a bucket just before halftime to send the game into halftime with SC holding a 25-20 edge.

“We’re running our sets and doing some great things – we’re just not finishing yet,” coach Fallon said.

The rim seemed to expand for the Patriots, particularly in the third quarter, as they poured in 19 points. Thanks to a pair form Silvis and another from Hewitt, South connected on their first three 3-point attempts of the second half and took the lead for good at 31-30.

South also used a substantial edge at the free-throw line to build the lead to as many as eight points (45-37) at the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The Patriots outscored the Black Eagles 16-2 from the charity stripe.

SC had one last surge left behind a pair of buckets from Brown which sliced the deficit to 45-43. The Black Eagles had one possession to either tie or go in front, but Hewitt’s steal resulted in a two-shot foul. The senior converted both attempts from the line.

After another defensive stop, South point guard Mason Nutter’s putback extended the cushion to 49-43 with 1:13 showing. Nutter, who began his transition as the team’s quarterback three games ago, picked up two fouls in the first 2 ½ minutes of the game. With a few breaks in between, Nutter remained on the floor without picking up another personal.

“We went through a rough patch with three losses in a row, but this a huge momentum swing,” Nutter said. “In that first quarter, they were allowed to get up and down – I guess they like the open court. When you look at their guys they are so athletic and they want to run. We came out in our 55 because that’s what we do. But the zone slowed them down and they couldn’t get into their offense.

“They were taking quick shots, bad shots. We’ve used zone a couple of times. I think we’ll see more of it, no doubt.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com



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