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Friday night's basketball game between rivals Parkersburg and Parkersburg South inside the Rod Oldham Athletic Center was quite the joy to cover.
Granted, neither program could throw the ball into the proverbial ocean, but it sure wasn't for a lack of trying.
Especially in the first half, I have no clue how many shots South head boys coach Mike Fallon's club had rim in and out of the cylinder.
It also didn't help the Big Reds of head coach Jeff Mennillo when big man Brenton Strange had to miss almost all of the second quarter after picking up foul number two on the evening.
Nonetheless, it was such a fantastic environment.
On top of that, it appeared from my view on the floor a fine level of sportsmanship was on display and the student sections for both sides definitely were in the game.
I was able to cover Parkersburg South twice last week and senior Cole Plants had big games each night. He had a career-high 34 points in the Patriots' holiday tournament semifinal win against Capital and then had a strong double-double of 25 points and 10 rebounds versus the Big Reds.
"He's a freak. He reminds me so much of Cody Monroe," Fallon said of Plants in reference to the ex-Patriot point guard Monroe.
"He looks to score a little more than Cody did, but he's a freak athlete and he plays hard and give him a ton of credit.
"The thing is he got a couple charges (called on him) early and then in the third quarter, he jump-stopped and scored. Once he learns to finish and completely doing that, I mean he's going to be even tougher out (there) than what he is right now."
Obviously, the Big Reds crossed the river with an eye on securing a win in the first rivalry game of the season, but last winter PHS won twice in the regular season before watching Parkersburg South take the sectional title.
"We got some young guys who are going to need to grow that I thought played well at times and then they looked like first-year guys at times," Mennillo said after the setback.
"We've got to get rapidly to a point where that doesn't happen. I just want this group of guys to get over the hump so bad because I think once they get over the hump in a game like this once, you know, and we could've done it the first night at Musselman."
Indeed, PHS had a lead in the fourth quarter and also had the ball in the waning seconds with a chance to win at Musselman, but eventually lost in overtime after turning the ball over on the last possession of regulation without getting a shot off.
"We get over that hump the first time, I think they'll get that confidence they need to, you know, have a little bit of swagger and stuff about them," Mennillo added.
"We've got plenty of opportunities because our schedule doesn't get really a whole lot easier."
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com