MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It was a night where basketball was secondary Monday at Morgantown High.
Although the MHS boys’ basketball team walked out with an 81-46 win over Preston, the focus was what happened off the court recently, especially for the Knights.
Last Thursday, Bryce Bishoff, a 17-year-old student at Preston, passed away suddenly. The Knights practiced Tuesday and played a game Wednesday, but decided not to practice Thursday night. That was followed by a game Friday and coach Paul Koontz decided to give his team the weekend off to mourn and be with family.
“Basketball became second the last few days, so it is what it is,” Koontz said. “These boys played with heavy hearts, but after while, they responded and we got them to wake up and play. I think it was just a matter of getting back into the flow of things.”
As a result, it had been nearly a week since the Knights last practiced, and it showed in the first quarter against the Mohigans. PHS trailed 26-1 at the end of the first eight minutes and didn’t make its first basket until the 4:50 mark of the second quarter.
However, once that first shot went in, the momentum picked up. Preston (7-7) ended up scoring 17 in the second thanks to 15 combined points from Nick Smith and Austin Metheny. By the end of the game, Metheny and Smith each finished with a team-high 15 points.
Although it wasn’t a pretty game by any means, Koontz is happy to see his team battling at .500 during the latter half of the season. The Knights have been in a rebuild over the course of the last five years but are starting to see the fruits of their labor.
“We’re headed in a good direction,” Koontz said. “We’re getting better and we just had a little setback this week, but we’ll respond and finish the season strong, for sure.”
Prior to the game, MHS honored Bishoff with a moment of silence, and that was followed by another gesture by the Mohigans. On Jan. 26, all-time NBA great Kobe Bryant, along with his daughter Gianna and seven others, were killed in a helicopter crash in California.
To honor Bryant, MHS held a 24.8-second — represented both jersey numbers Bryant donned with the Los Angeles Lakers — moment of silence. Purple ribbon stickers were also handed out to fans, coaches and players.
Over the course of the last three minutes, once they scored their 81st point, the Mohigans did not try to score and intentionally missed a free throw to keep the score at 81. Bryant scored a career-high 81 points — the second most all-time behind Wilt Chamberlain’s 100 — in 2006 against the Toronto Raptors.
MHS (14-2) came out red-hot against the Knights, much to the delight of coach Dave Tallman.
“I thought we came out great,” he said. “The intensity and the effort were awesome. When you get up that big, sometimes you get a little flat, but we had a lot of fun tonight and I think the Kobe game, finishing with 81, is pretty special.”
Alex Rudy led all scorers with 23 points after knocking down seven 3-pointers, while Troy Battle (18), Carson Poffenberger (10) and Brooks Gage (10) also finished in double figures.
MHS will travel to Wheeling Park at 7:30 p.m. Friday, while PHS will host Lincoln at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Preston (7-7)
Brandt 0 0-0 0; Shannon 3 0-1 6; Smith 6 2-4 15; Metheny 5 2-2 15; Fultz 2 0-1 4; Harris 1 0-0 2; Shaver 0 0-0 0; Wolfe 0 0-0 0; Thomas 1 0-0 3; Long 0 0-0 0; Allen 0 0-0 0; Barlow 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 4-8 46.
Morgantown (14-2)
Battle 7 4-6 18; McMillen 2 0-0 5; Pryor 0 0-0 0; Rudy 8 0-0 23; Poffenberger 3 4-5 10; Gage 4 0-0 10; Bechtel 1 0-0 2; Poland 0 0-0 0; Rollo 1 0-0 3; Washington 3 1-2 7; Felton 1 0-1 3; Borom 0 0-0 0; Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals: 30 9-14 81.
PHS 1 17 14 14 – 46
MHS 26 13 21 21 – 81
3-pointers: PHS 5 (Smith 2, Metheny 3); MHS 12 (McMillen, Rudy 7; Gage 2, Rollo, Felton).
