PARKERSBURG, W.Va. — While South Charleston, Morgantown and defending state champion Huntington have received a lot of the statewide attention throughout the boys high school basketball season, it’s Parkersburg South (15-2) that has also positioned itself as a legitimate state championship contender as well in Class AAA.
The Patriots, who spent one week at No. 1 in the MetroNews Power Index, entered this week in the No. 2 spot, just behind South Charleston.
“It’s as wide open as it has ever been, I think, in Class AAA,” said Parkersburg South coach Mike Fallon. “With that, there are eight or 10 teams who can win the state championship. But (those same teams) could also get knocked out of the first round of the section too. That’s the part to really worry about, getting through that. Class AAA is as balanced as it has ever been.”
Parkersburg South entered the state tournament a year ago as the No. 6 seed in Class AAA, bringing a 19-6 record into tournament play. The Patriots lost in the quarterfinals to No. 3 Hedgesville, 54-49 — sparking a fire under this year’s group to get back to Charleston.
“Our biggest thing when we entered the summer was to win a state championship,” Fallon said. “They’ve bought in and expectations have been with this group coming up through. The biggest thing is that they don’t feel extra pressure from anything. They love to be in the gym and they love playing together.”
The Patriots have avenged both of those two losses so far this year in impressive fashion. Following an early season, 73-71 loss to Wheeling Park, Parkersburg South won the rematch earlier this month 77-47. The other loss for Fallon’s club came at Morgantown 64-60 — the Patriots turned that loss into an 82-55 home win just two days later.
“It was coming off of those losses that got us refocused,” Fallon said. “Going into the first Wheeling Park game, we were a little too confident when we started. But after those two losses, it seems like our team has taken on a whole different focus. They’re a super group of kids.”
Junior guard Garrett Gilkeson (also the football team’s quarterback) has been one of the leaders for Parkersburg South on the year, shooting 55 percent from the floor and 45 percent from beyond the arc, while averaging over 15 points per game.
“Garrett has had a great year for us,” Fallon said. “About six of seven games into the season, his football legs went away and he got back into basketball mode. He’s been super for us.”
Ty Dobson is also putting up 14.5 points per game, while J.R. Kerr and Cody Monroe are scoring nine points per outing.
“The biggest thing about these guys is that they don’t care who scores,” Fallon said. “We don’t have that true superstar who is going to score 20-25 points per game. We have kids who score 9-13 points each time out. They’ve bought into what we want to do and the biggest goal for these guys is to win a state championship.”
Defensively, Parkersburg South is giving up just 53.5 points per game, while forcing nearly 21 turnovers and 14.4 steals per outing.
“That’s where I think we’ve gotten better since those two losses,” Fallon said. “Playing good defense gets our offense going. It’s one of those things, when we really want to defend and get in the passing lanes, we’re pretty tough to beat.”
The complete interview with Fallon is posted at the top of the page.
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| PARKERSBURG SOUTH Senior Basketball(B) Schedule |
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| 1 | 12/11/14 | 07:30PM | H | LINSLY, WV. H.S. | 82 | – | 38 | W |
| 2 | 12/12/14 | 07:30PM | A | BROOKE | 63 | – | 55 | W |
| 3 | 12/19/14 | 07:30PM | A | BROOKE | 68 | – | 41 | W |
| 4 | 12/20/14 | 07:30PM | H | LEWIS COUNTY | 67 | – | 50 | W |
| 5 | 12/27/14 | 07:30PM | A | HARVEST PREP, OH H.S. | 62 | – | 55 | W |
| 6 | 12/30/14 | 07:30PM | A | PARKERSBURG | 43 | – | 42 | W |
| 7 | 01/03/15 | 07:30PM | A | JOHN MARSHALL | 71 | – | 35 | W |
| 8 | 01/14/15 | 07:30PM | A | LINSLY, WV. H.S. | 60 | – | 32 | W |
| 9 | 01/16/15 | 07:30PM | H | WHEELING PARK | 71 | – | 73 | L |
| 10 | 01/19/15 | 07:30PM | A | MORGANTOWN | 60 | – | 64 | L |
| 11 | 01/21/15 | 07:30PM | H | MORGANTOWN | 82 | – | 55 | W |
| 12 | 01/23/15 | 07:30PM | H | UNIVERSITY | 90 | – | 76 | W |
| 13 | 01/28/15 | 07:30PM | A | UNIVERSITY | 77 | – | 66 | W |
| 14 | 01/30/15 | 05:45PM | A | PRINCETON | 83 | – | 76 | W |
| 15 | 01/31/15 | 05:15PM | A | MARTINSBURG | 53 | – | 52 | W |
| 16 | 02/06/15 | 07:30PM | A | WHEELING PARK | 77 | – | 47 | W |
| 17 | 02/10/15 | 07:30PM | A | LOGAN | 76 | – | 53 | W |
| 18 | 02/17/15 | 06:45PM | H | Steubenville, OH | – | |||
| 19 | 02/18/15 | 07:30PM | H | PARKERSBURG | – | |||
| 20 | 02/21/15 | 12:30PM | A | OVAC TOURNEY FINALS@ OU EASTERN | – | |||
| 21 | 02/24/15 | 07:30PM | A | LEWIS COUNTY | – | |||
| 22 | 02/26/15 | 07:30PM | H | GEORGE WASHINGTON | – | |||
| wins: 15 lost: 2 ties: |
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