By Jim Workman
Parkersburg South was excited about playing in the Big Atlantic Classic. The Class AAA No. 10-ranked Patriots were also looking forward to a Friday matchup against another top 10 team in Capital.
But because of the weather, the Cougars weren’t allowed to leave Kanawha County.
Big Atlantic officials quickly found a willing fill-in, another Patriots squad, Independence.
Indy, a Class AA team, would prove to be no match, however, as South pounded the Raleigh County Patriots, 99-36.
“We were really looking forward to playing Capital because they’re one of our sectional rivals,” South coach Roy Edelman said. “We wanted to play them for (postseason) seeding purposes.
“But we really appreciate Independence and coach (Chad) Perkins for playing us. They didn’t have to.”
Parkersburg South dominated from the opening tip and blazed out to a 45-14 halftime lead.
South posted runs of 12-0, 20-5, 12-0 and 15-0 in the first three quarters before really taking its foot off the gas.
“We were able to get it out and run with it,” Edelman said. “That was the key. We still had to stay fundamentally sound and focused.”
The South staff didn’t take any chances with their team losing focus on the task at hand by not playing the game they prepared for.
“We didn’t tell our players that we weren’t playing Capital until about two minutes before we left the dressing room,” Edelman revealed. “They knew they’d still have to play hard.”
Independence was the unfortunate recipient of a team looking for a superb AAA challenge.
Chase Fieler paced South with 16 points, five rebounds, three steals and three assists in just 18 minutes of action.
“Chase could score 35-40 points a game if we wanted him to,” Edelman said of his 6-foot-7 senior. “But he’s a very unselfish player that likes to get others involved. When he does what he does, we’re a much better team, too.”
Shawn McKinney scored a team-high 12 for Independence (1-9).
A total of 34 turnovers contributed to Indy’s demise.
“It was ugly, but it was a night that we weren’t sitting at home,” Perkins said. “We got some conditioning in and we got to play in the armory. We played a top-shelf AAA team, too. We’ll chalk this one up to experience.”
Indy agreed to play the game after its scheduled game at PikeView Friday was canceled.
“We knew that we were probably overmatched,” Perkins admitted. “We knew South was good. We just didn’t know how good. Their coach was good to us because they could have probably named their score.”
South will play Woodrow Wilson at 9:15 p.m. today.
— E-mail: jworkman@
register-herald.com
Parkersburg South 99,
Independence 36
Parkersburg South (11-3)
Sam Holtz 4 1-1 11, Matt Emerick 5 0-0 13, Matt Kestner 3 1-2 7, Michael Molinari 3 0-0 6, Chase Fieler 5 3-4 16, Garret Foggin 4 1-2 9, Kyle Johsnon 3 0-0 7, Cody Swearingen 0 2-2 2, Chris Neal 4 0-0 9, Bryan Hooper 4 3-4 11, Wes Mitchem 3 1-1 8. Totals: 38 12-16 99.
Independence (1-9)
Jaquai Multunas 1 0-0 2, Shawn McKinney 5 0-0 12, Shaun Pack 1 2-5 4, Caleb Bolen 1 0-0 3, Ryan Martin 1 0-0 2, Jordan Bryant 1 0-0 3, Tyler McKinney 0 0-0 0, James Bowman 1 0-0 3, Steve Bowman 1 0-0 2, Colten Sexton 0 0-0 0, Carnes Brown 1 0-0 2, Taylor Barr 1 0-0 3. Totals: 14 2-5 36.
P 25 20 31 23 — 99
I 9 5 9 13 — 36
Three-point goals: P: 11 (Emerick 3, Fieler 3, Holtz 2, Johnson 1, Neal 1, Mitchem 1); I: 6 (McKinney 2, Bolen 1, Bryant 1, J. Bowman 1, Barr 1); Fouled out: I: Pack.
