CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Huntington knew it would have to pressure Morgantown and put its bigs in a pickle to pick up back-to-back wins over Mon County teams, but the Mohigans were ready, switched to the zone in the second half and outscored HHS 26-8 in the third quarter to punch their ticket to the first-ever Class 4A state title game with a 64-42 victory Friday in the state semifinals.
“We out-rebounded them 51-29, so that was our No. 1 key after what we saw last night – the physical game they had,” MHS coach Dave Tallman said. “I’m really proud of our guys’ effort. We’re not celebrating yet; we’ve got one more.”
Although trading buckets early in the first quarter at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, Morgantown broke the 5-5 knot to charge ahead. Just like in Thursday’s meeting with University, Huntington’s 3-point attempts outweighed its buckets, but one shallow trey put the Highlanders down one at the first media timeout. Still, the Mohigans held tough the final four minutes of the frame, going on a 7-0 run to lead HHS 16-8.
Huntington backed off the press in the second quarter, but Morgantown was able to adjust to stay well ahead of the Highlanders. However, Tallman was forced to pull Luke Bechtel early in the stanza after the senior picked up his second foul – one of many MHS committed. Despite that, the Highlanders couldn’t capitalize on most of their freebies, including one following a technical on MHS senior Xavier Pryor who dunked a dead ball.
With one minute left in the half, Morgantown held a substantial 13-point lead. Two turnovers and a defensive rebound gave Huntington a much-needed surge, though, picking up six quick fast-break points, cutting into the Mohigans’ lead as the clock hit zero.
Following the break, the Mohigans switched to the zone and returned the favor, as Xavier Pryor and Luke Bechtel picked up four quick points in the first minute of the third quarter. Jaylen Motley snapped the Highlanders’ drought with a trey, but the Mohigans continued to cruise to a 16-point lead at the media timeout. Carson Poffenberger quickly picked up his third foul, allowing Cam Rice to come in and lock down the paint, helping hold HHS to just eight points in the frame.
The final stanza saw Morgantown chew clock and cruise to the win.
One player who thrived in the second half was freshman guard Sha-Ron Young. A standout all year, Young led the team with seven assists, had two steals, netted six points and, most impressive, secured eight rebounds, seven of which came on defense.
“We’re pretty good at running sets and getting what we want, but Huntington really got up in us and double-teamed it,” Tallman said. “At halftime, I told the guys, ‘Let’s just spread it. Put Poff and Cam down on the short corner, let’s just spread it. We’ve got our two shooters out in the wing.’ I thought Sha-Ron did a great job creating on his own. He had a lot of good plays out there
“Just spreading them out, we knew they were going to trap and do things, so when we spread them and got paint touches and found our open shooters, that really gave them problems.”
Though Tallman credited his win on the rebound advantage, Rice was also a key for uncharacteristic foul trouble plaguing the Mohigans. Both Poffenberger and Bechtel had three personals. In their quarterfinal game against the Hawks, the Highlanders were able to find wiggle room late when UHS big Blake Barkley fouled out. Rice also added eight points off the bench, critical early on for MHS.
“I thought Cam, Sha-Ron and Jalen [Goins] off the bench were huge for us,” Tallman said. “We were in huge foul trouble with 4 1/2 to go, we went to the zone and those guys went in and did a heck of a job. Cam Rice is our juice guy, we call him our juice guy. He brings it every day, he’s emotional. Sometimes good, sometimes not so good, but, man, that kid plays with all the heart in the world and we’re proud of him.”
Poland led the Mohigans with 11 points, while Poffenberger had 11 and Brooks Gage had 10. Gage also led the team in boards with nine, all on defense. In total, MHS shot 40.7% from the floor (22 of 54) and 75% from the line (18 of 24).
“I’m comfortable with the guys I play around, I know I can trust them. I think any defense we play, we’re great at,” Gage said. “I knew when we came down here on Wednesday what it was all about and how I had to stay focused the whole time. After the win [over Woodrow Wilson] I was excited but I thought about today right after it.”
Although no Highlander hit double digits, Brendan Hoffman and Jaylen Motley each had nine points in the loss. Joe Patterson and Eli Archer each had eight to back them up. The Highlanders netted a low 26.3% (15 of 57) from the field and 38.5% (5 of 13) from the stripe.
“We didn’t hit shots,” HHS coach Ty Holmes said. “I hate it for my seniors, but I appreciate everything they did this season. They played hard, never gave up, bought into the system and made it to the Top 4 in the state. I’m proud of them.”
Though playing a late game against the Hawks, Holmes didn’t want to speculate whether his team was tired against the Mohigans.
“It could have been,” he said. “When you play at this caliber … it’s not an excuse. We got stagnant, stood around a lot, didn’t have good passes and that hurt us on both ends of the floor. You’ve got to move the ball and make them rotate. They did a good job matching up and getting out.”
So, while one season ends another continues for one more day. And, it’s not like Tallman is completely against celebration, as told by Poffenberger.
“It’s so exciting,” Poffenberger said. “It’s hard to hide the enthusiasm. Coach tells us after each game, we’re going to win, you get an hour to celebrate in the locker room with your teammates and then you have to flip the page and plan for tomorrow. We got our excitement out, but now we’re refocusing and are ready for tomorrow.”
Morgantown will face George Washington in in the title game after the Patriots came back to defeat Martinsburg, 64-52.
“GW, we haven’t seen them yet. They have two great guards, we know that, but we’re going to get a good scout on them at 9 o’clock,” Tallman said “We’re going to make sure we dot all our I’s and cross all our T’s before tomorrow.
“We’re going to get our legs back – our athletic trainer does a great job. We’ve got Olive Garden at the hotel for them, get some carbs in them. We’ll wake up tomorrow, get them a good stretch and good breakfast, and then we’ll go practice for about an hour.”
The state title game begins at 7 p.m.
HUNTINGTON (12-4)
Jaylen Motley 3 0-2 9; Brendan Hoffman 4 0-2 9; Joe Patterson 2 3-3 8; Eli Archer 3 2-2 8; Zavion Johnson 1 0-0 3; Sam Clay 1 0-0 3; Mekhi Brown 1 0-4 2. Totals: 15 5-13 42.
MORGANTOWN (19-1)
Alec Poland 5 2-3 12; Carson Poffenberger 4 3-3 11; Brooks Gage 3 2-2 10; Xavier Pryor 3 2-4 8; Cam Rice 4 0-0 8; Sha-Ron Young 1 4-6 6; Jalen Goins 0 4-4 4; Luke Bechtel 2 1-2 5. Totals: 22 18-24 64.
HHS 8 11 8 15 – 42
MHS 16 10 26 12 – 64
3-pointers: HHS 7 (Motley 3, Clay, Hoffman, Johnson, Patterson); MHS 2 (Gage 2).
Technical fouls: HHS 1 (Patterson); MHS 1 (Pryor).
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