MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After the Class AAAA No. 1 Morgantown boys’ basketball team suffered its only loss of the season thus far to Class AAA No. 1 Robert C. Byrd earlier this season at home 69-56, MHS coach Dave Tallman was unconcerned.
“We’re looking at the regular season basically as 17 scrimmages before the big tournament at end of the year,” he said.
Well, it’s now officially that time of year, and Tuesday night, the Mohigans began their quest for a trip to Charleston by hosting John Marshall in the Region I, Section 1 semifinals.
After a semi-slow start, Tallman released the hounds — as in an intense, relentless, hounding defense — in the second quarter, Morgantown never let up and never looked back, rolling out to a 50-30 halftime lead on their way to a dominating 95-44 win.
Some long distance shooting from JM guards Brennan Sobutko and Derrick Derrow kept the Monarchs (2-11) within reach of the semi-rusty Mohigans (14-1) early, as the underdogs trailed by only two at the end of the first quarter, 18-16.
That’s when Tallman cranked up the full-court pressure and didn’t ease off the gas for three straight quarters. The result? A 20-3 turnover advantage, leading directly to easy transition points and multiple open looks, resulting in a 77-28 point differential and a solid win.
While Derrow managed to score 16-straight points in the second and third quarters on his way to a game-high 25, MHS’s speed, tenacity and depth were simply too much for the Monarchs. Nine Mohigans scored, and that doesn’t include senior Luke Bechtel, held out as a precaution with what appeared to be a minor leg injury.
Carson Poffenberger led the way with 17 after his strong, energetic post play earned plenty of paint points. Brooks Gage drilled four 3s on his way to 16 points, and point guard Xavier Pryor’s all-around game produced a dozen points. Fellow senior Alec Poland also scored 12, while Jalen Goins and Sha-Ron Young delivered quality defensive minutes off the bench and contributed offensively, as well, with 13 and 11, respectively.
“Our effort and execution was solid today, especially after we went to our pressure,” Tallman said. “Once we sort of knocked the rust off, I thought we did a real good job of working hard, and capitalizing on our speed and athleticism and depth. We kept our turnovers well under 10, which is our goal, and I liked the fact that we didn’t take plays off. We’re playing playoff basketball now, so we know it’s time to step up our game.”
Poffenberger enjoyed getting his hard work down low rewarded, and knew his team was ready to roll, despite the short pause before the sectionals finally began.
“We try to take advantage of mismatches as much as possible,” he said, “and getting the ball in the right spot at the right time can give us a chance for easy points. If we can do that well, it opens everything else up for us offensively. We got used to playing three or four games a week, but the break just gave us more time to practice. And believe me, our practices are very intense and very competitive. So I knew we were prepared for today — and we’re looking forward to the battles ahead.”
The Mohigans will host Wheeling Park for the Section 1 title at 7 p.m. Friday.
JOHN MARSHALL (2-11)
Derrick Derrow 10 2-4 25 Jake Korngiver 0 2-2 2 Roman Gray 2 0-0 4 Brennan Sobutko 4 0-0 10 Braden Sobutko 1 0-0 3 Totals 17 4-6 44
MORGANTOWN (14-1)
Jalen Goins 6 0-2 13 Brooks Gage 6 0-0 16 Xavier Pryor 5 2-5 12 Carson Poffenberger 6 5-6 17 Cam Rice 4 0-0 8 Alec Poland 4 2-3 12 Sha-Ron Young 5 1-2 11 Brody Davis 2 0-0 5 Dom Gabriele 0 1-2 1 Totals 38 11-20 95.
John Marshall 16 14 11 3 – 44
Morgantown 18 32 33 12 – 95
3-pointers: JM 6 (Derrow 3, Bre. Sobutka 2, Bra. Sobutka), MHS 8 (Gage 4, Poland 2, Goins, Davis).
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