MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Parkersburg South entered Friday’s matchup at Morgantown hoping to slow the pace of the game and keep it played in the halfcourt.
The plan worked for one half and the Patriots went into the break facing a 20-18 deficit.
After halftime, however, the Mohigans picked up the defensive pressure and got the tempo to their liking to run away from the Patriots, 59-33.
“We came out flat footed and we didn’t have any ball pressure. Ball pressure is what we do,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said. “They were kind of comfortable the first half. They still didn’t score a lot, but we didn’t create any offense out of our defense. In the second half, we came out and got on them pretty good and created a lot of offense for ourselves.”
During the decisive third quarter, Morgantown (8-1) outscored the Patriots, 25-9, to build a 45-27 lead.
The Mohigans set the tone early in the second half by scoring the first seven points. Parkersburg South (5-3) managed to answer with a 7-4 surge and got to within 31-25 on a Dylan Day 3-pointer.
MHS then followed with an 11-0 spurt that put the game out of reach. Alec Poland’s stickback got the game-changing run started and Xavier Pryor followed with a conventional three-point play at the 3:39 mark of the third.
Alex Rudy, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half, added his own three-point play at the 3:10 mark and Poland followed with a triple to make it 42-25 with 2:37 left in the period.
“They’re so deep. They just keep coming at you with different guys and shooting, size and athleticism,” Parkersburg South head coach Brett Rector said. “That just kind of get the best of us in the second half.”
The Mohigans settled for a 45-27 lead through three quarters and worked some clock while increasing their lead in the fourth.
With Morgantown leading 18-11 in the second quarter, Sylvia closed the half on a personal 7-2 run to help the Patriots get to within one possession.
Sylvia led the Patriots with 15 points, including 13 in the first half. He also added a team-high 10 rebounds. No other PSHS player scored more than six points.
“Their depth wears on you and also the speed at which they play,” Rector said. “They’re going to be up pressuring and denying and they try to speed you up. We did a pretty good job handling that in the first half, but in the second half they got us.”
Rudy’s 15 points led Morgantown, and Poland followed with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Carson Poffenberger gave the Mohigans a third double figure scorer with 12 points to go with seven boards, while Mac McMillen scored nine.
The Mohigans outrebounded the Patriots, 36-28, and held PSHS to 26 percent shooting from the field.
“We have a great group of guys,” Tallman said. “The effort is awesome and they’re doing everything we ask.
“We just have a lot of new guys and they kind of don’t know what they’re doing yet. Every time we call a play, we screw it up. That’ll get better as the year goes on and we’ll get more comfortable on the offensive end. But defensively, we’re pretty good.”