CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Parkersburg South won a wild, double-overtime thriller on Thursday, beating No. 3 Capital 87-86 in the Class AAA boys basketball quarterfinals.
The sixth-seeded Patriots (19-7) led by 15 in the third quarter and trailed by six with just 1:12 to go in regulation, but found a way to force overtime.
“This was a total team effort and that’s the only way we can win,” said Parkersburg South coach Mike Fallon. “That last minute of regulation was huge and then we had a couple of chances to win it. I told our kids that we had to win it, because so many things went our way.”
Garrett Gilkeson finished with 21 points, while Cody Day scored 20 points with 10 rebounds and hit the eventual game-winner with 1:29 left in the second overtime, throwing up a shot that fell through as he tumbled to the floor.
“I was just going for a turn-around jump shot,” Day said. “I kind of got hammered and thought I got fouled, so I threw it up there.”
Capital (21-4) was led by Crunchy Bays’ 26 points and 18 rebounds.
“I told everyone that we could do this, give us our energy, give us everything you have and leave it all out on the floor,” Bays said. “We did that and hit a spurt, but we just fell short.”
The teams went to the half tied 33-33, but Parkersburg South scored the first five points of the third quarter for a 38-33 lead at the 7:05 mark. The Patriots eventually extended their lead out to 58-43 on a 3 from Garrett Gilkeson.
The No. 3 Cougars responded with 12 straight points to cut their deficit to 58-55. A 3 from Capital’s Anthony Pittman gave the Cougars the lead again, 64-63, and 2:49 to go. Capital stretched that advantage out to 72-66 with 1:12 to go.
But a flurry of Parkersburg South points (and a key forced turnover and blocked shot) eventually tied the game up at 72-72 with 37.2 seconds to go in regulation.
“Capital ended up turning the ball over, we got some momentum and just jumped back in the game,” Fallon said. “That was the biggest turning point of the game.”
After a missed Capital shot, Parkersburg South got the ball back with 5.7 seconds remaining, but a last second 3 from Dylan Ward was off the mark, sending the game to overtime.
The two teams were still deadlocked after the first overtime, 79-79, as a last-second heave from Capital’s Deshawn Hatfield was off.
The Patriots led 87-85 with 4.6 seconds to go in the second OT when Capital’s Bays went to the foul line and made just one of two.
After two missed free throws on the other end from Parkersburg South’s Seth Fallon, the Cougars had a last-second heave for the potential win from Bays, but it missed.
Parkersburg South was outstanding from the foul line, hitting 33-of-41 free throws, many of those in high-pressure situations.
“Those were huge,” Fallon said. “Cody (Boggs) hit the ones at the end of regulation and Cole (Day) hit a big one at the end of one of the overtimes.
“I was just thinking in my head, this is what you grow up for, this is what you want to do,” he continued. “You want to be the guy on the line in those situations. I’m proud of our kids. I have a ton of faith in these guys. There’s no quit at all.”
Gilkeson fouled out with 1:14 to go in the first overtime and fell starter Jordan Hockman also fouled out, setting the stage for Boggs and Day to step up even more.
“We just wanted to stick with what we were doing,” Fallon said. “We knew with the group we had on the floor at the end that we had to set screens. We got some movement and looks for our kids, but you have to have faith in everybody this time of year. There are always kids who step up.”
Boggs added 15 points, while Dylan Ward scored 14 points and Shane Snider added 10.
The Patriots, who were 7-5 at one point on the season, have won 12 of 14 going into Friday’s semifinal against No. 2 Huntington at 9 p.m. It will be a rematch of last year’s state championship game won by the Highlanders when Parkersburg South was the higher seed.
“Coming in, we didn’t really see ourselves as the six seed,” Gilkeson said. “We knew we were a better team. Getting this next game, for me, Cody and Cole, it’s kind of payback for last year’s championship game. I know with the experience and faith that we have this year, I think we can do this and get that win Friday.”
Watch players and coaches react in postgame: