3:06pm: Hotline with Dave Weekley

Pittman, No. 1 Capital overwhelm Parkersburg South

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Top seed Capital was too much for No. 8 Parkersburg South Wednesday night as the Cougars rolled to an 85-65 win in the Class AAA boys basketball quarterfinals.

The Cougars (22-4) set the tempo immediately, jumping out to a 12-0 lead in the first quarter.

Capital’s overall depth and athleticism were on full display throughout.

“Absolutely insane,” said Parkersburg South junior Shane Snider, describing the Cougars.

Junior Anthony Pittman finished with a double-double in the win, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds – an effort that included multiple dunks, three blocked shots and two steals.

“His athleticism speaks for itself,” said Capital coach Matt Greene of Pittman. “He had five dunks tonight and six the game before. If you take his dunks out of it, he’s a very skilled player, not just his athleticism — he has a great skill set.

“He has just scratched the surface on his potential,” Greene said. “Within the last year he has definitely gotten so much more explosive.”

The Cougars built off of a 38-24 halftime lead for a 59-43 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.

“Our goal is to get up and down the court as much as we can, that’s the way we play,” said Capital senior Leondre Rogers. “The more we run, the more tired they get, so that down the stretch they wouldn’t be able to hit the shots that they were (earlier).”

Leondre Rogers scored 16 points in Capital’s 85-65 win over Parkersburg South Wednesday night.

Rogers scored 16 points on the night and collected nine assists in the win.

Capital shot 56 percent from the floor overall with four players finishing in double figures. The Cougars outscored Parkersburg South inside the paint 56-22.

“One of our main focuses was that we wanted it in the paint,” Greene said. “Whether that was feeding our post guys, drives or offensive rebounds – we felt like we needed to get the ball in the paint and play inside-out. Our guys did a good job of doing that.”

Parkersburg South (14-12) was led by Snider who scored 27 points in the loss. The Patriots went 8 of 27 from 3.

The win for the Cougars avenges a double-overtime loss last year to the Patriots in the quarterfinals.

“Last year was like a nightmare in the end for us,” Rogers said. “This year we came out ready to play and we didn’t make the same mistake we made last year. We just kept on pushing and now we’re on to the next one.

That next matchup for Capital is a semifinal contest on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m. against either Morgantown or George Washington.

“Friday at 5:15, we’ll be ready to go,” Greene said. “We’ll find out tomorrow morning who we play. We’ll get a little bit of rest tomorrow, but really I don’t think anybody is going to be tired this time of year. Both teams will be ready to play.”





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