Marietta’s Owen Riley dribbles upcourt during Friday’s Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Basketball Classic at Rod Oldham Athletic Center.(Photo by Kerry Patrick)

PARKERSBURG — A huge second quarter was the difference Friday night as the West Virginia boys downed the Ohio boys 144-112 in the 23rd Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis All-Star Classic at the Rod Oldham Center.

Ritchie County’s Isaac Hodges and Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce combined for 50 points to earn co-MVP honors and help lead the Mountaineer squad to their 15th win all-time in the series compared to just eight losses.

WV out-pointed the Buckeye squad 41-17 in the second quarter to break open a close game and take a 29-point lead into the intermission.

The Ohio squad trailed by just three points at the end of the first quarter but they proved no match for the WV squad in the pivotal second quarter.

Joyce scored all 14 of his first half points in the opening quarter while Hodges did most of his damage in the second as he finished the first half with 17.

Parkersburg Catholic’s Preston Randolph (10) is defended by Warren’s Hudson Elzey during Friday’s Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Basketball Classic at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The Ohio team would make a bit of a run early in the third quarter in a bid to climb back into it as they got 12 consecutive points from Marietta’s Owen Riley to cut the lead to 22.

West Virginia answered though with a 10-0 run to quickly push their lead back out to 32 points and cruised the rest of the way.

“It was fun tonight and we told them the other night that we had so many kids we thought we would just press and run and sub in and out about every three minutes or so and it went really well,” said Parkersburg South and West Virginia head coach Mike Fallon. “So much talent on the floor and it was great to get to see them show it.”

The West Virginia squad scored at least 32 points in every single quarter, shot a blistering 66 percent (58-87) from the floor while out-rebounding their friends from across the river by a handy 47-28 margin.

“Their size was a big factor but also their quickness,” said Southern and Ohio head coach Jeff Caldwell. “When you’ve got a great combination of quickness and size it’s tough, and when they put together that run before half it was more than we could recover from.”

Marietta’s Owen Riley throws down a dunk prior to Friday’s Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Mike Morrison)

Hodges led the way with 26 points while Joyce added 24 on his home court.

Joyce’s points in the first half came from behind the three-point line but his final points in the final quarter came with some fancy slam dunks much to the delight of the home team crowd.

“It was a special night getting to play one last time on this court and it was great to end it in a great fashion,” said Joyce. “We are blessed to be able to do this and to be able to play this game to be able to help others is a great feeling.”

Hodges, who will play his college ball at Marietta College next season, made all but one of his 12 field goal attempts while also yanking down six boards.

“It was great to come out and compete with and against a lot of really good players,” said Hodges. “I was glad to put on my high school jersey one last time and to do it for such a great cause is awesome.”

Federal Hocking’s Cam Joy (12) looks to get around Ritchie County’s Isaac Hodges during Friday’s Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis Basketball Classic at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

All told, six West Virginia players reached double figures including Doddridge County big man Jaden Soloman with 15 and Parkersburg Catholic’s Leonardo DeAngelo with 14.

Cabell Midland’s Sam Phillips and Tyler Consolidated’s Cole Lemasters finished with 11 points apiece.

Just missing double-digits for the winners was Buckhannon-Uphur’s Jerin Westfall with nine and Ripley’s Matthew Stellato with eight.

Riley led all scorers with 41 points, including seven from behind the three-point line.

The Tigers’ leading scorer during the recently completed season, Riley scored 17 points in the first half and 24 more in the second.

Riley got the opportunity to play one last game with a pair of his teammates at MHS in Zaiden Wittekind and Trey Hawkins, and the three combined for more than half of the points scored by Ohio in the game.

The Tiger trio accounted for 63 of the Ohio squad’s points, with Wittekind and Hawkins scoring 14 and 8 points, respectively.

“It was great to experience, one last game with my teammates,” said Riley. “They are brothers and they are family so it was a blast and something we never will forget.”

It was a big night all around for Riley, who in addition to picking up Ohio’s MVP award also picked up a win in the slam dunk contest held prior to the game at halftime of the girls game.

“I can only do one dunk so I had to kind of improvise,”said Riley, who used some theatrics prior to laying down several one-handed dunks to stun the competition and win the dunk contest. “Somehow or other I prevailed.”

Nelsonville-York’s Alex Thompson, right, dribbles along the sideline while being defended by Buckhannon-Upshur’s Jerin Westfall during Friday’s Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Warren’s Hudson Elzey finished the game with 12 points, all coming from behind the arc, while Shenandoah’s Braxton Barnett finished with nine.

The two teams combined to knock down 38 triples in the game, with the Ohio squad accounting for 20 of them.

Fallon was coaching the West Virginia squad for the third time and was thrilled to get the honor to do so again.

“This event just keeps growing every year and to see the kids come out and participate the way they do and the crowd we had tonight was awesome,” said Fallon. “A lot of fun but the biggest thing is it was for such a great cause.”

Caldwell was coaching the Ohio squad for the first time but was also honored to be selected.

“It was a great honor to coach such great athletes and for such a great cause,” said Caldwell. “I told the guys win or lose it’s a great honor to get to play in this event and I hope they realize that”

Even Parkersburg South manager Logan Howdyshell got in on the act by making a field goal in the fourth quarter.

As it always is, the BACF Classic was a win-win for the fans who got to see one last game of basketball before turning their attention to spring sports but for the players as well.

“It’s a great feeling to have this much fun and know it’s for such a great thing,” said Riley. “It was an honor to get to play in it for sure.”

Parkersburg South’s Taj Joyce, left, and his Team West Virginia teammates share a laugh during player introductions prior to the state of Friday’s Battle Against Cystic Fibrosis at Rod Oldham Athletic Center. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)