MORGANTOWN — Basketball runs in the blood of the Selders family.
Siblings Cam and Drew combined for 29 points Dec. 22, as the Morgantown High boys’ basketball team rolled past Shroder Paideia (Cincinnati), 44-29, in the American Homes Holiday Classic, at the Rowdy Center.
“We’ve had one guy that’s stepped up to play and that’s Cam, and Drew had a good night as well,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said.
“Every great team has a go-to player, and Cam is really stepping up to be our go-to player. Drew got his hands on a lot of balls. He’s bringing a lot of energy, and his senior leadership has been really good.”
Cam, the younger of the brothers, paced MHS with 17 points, including a vicious dunk midway through the second quarter that brought the fans to their feet.
“My team set me up. They really moved the ball around well,” Cam said. “They got me the ball, and I did what I could.”
Drew added 12 points for the Mohigans. For Cam, there’s a certain chemistry between the two.
“We’ve been playing together our whole lives,” he said. “He played well tonight. He’s really stepping up, and I like it.”
As usual, defense was the name of the game for MHS. Its signature brand of full-court pressure caused turmoil for Shroder’s offense throughout the evening, as the Jaguars tallied just six points in the final 16 minutes.
“Our defense was great. I mean, they only scored six in the second half,” Tallman said. “That was great. That was good execution.”
Tallman buys into the theory that defense wins championships, and his emphasis on that side of the ball has created one of the better looking defensive squads in the area.
“Defense is what we work on. Honestly, that’s what we work on probably 80 percent of practice,” he said. “That’s the first and foremost thing we know we have to be good at if we want to have a chance to win.”
However, with the time spent on defense, focus must be sacrificed in other aspects of the game, and Morgantown’s offense continues to struggle.
Mohigans that are not named Selders managed only 15 points combined on the night, and their offense is uncharacteristically low scoring for what the program is used to.
“That’s why our offense is struggling right now, but we’ll have time over break to work on our offense,” Tallman said. “We continue to be a work in progress offensively. I’m really proud of Cam’s effort, and we just need a couple more guys to step up and it’ll happen.”
MHS (4-2) plays again at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 30, hosting Buckhannon-Upshur.
