MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown boys’ basketball team (2-0) hit 13 of 15 shots from the charity stripe, along with 36 field goals, on their way to a 102-40 victory over visiting Preston on Monday night at the Rowdy Center.
“People like to make a big deal out of scoring 100 and I hate to score 100 on anybody,” Tallman said. “But there was a lot of time left in the game and our young kids went in there and played hard and they made shots off the bench.”
There weren’t many players who didn’t hit shots for MHS as it jumped out to a 58-15 halftime lead over the visiting Knight (0-3) and then cruised to the victory.
Preston head coach Paul Koontz admitted there wasn’t a lot his team could do against a Morgantown team that has its sights set on a return trip to Charleston.
“We tried to mix it up,” Koontz said. “We tried to go zone, we tried to put pressure on the ball. They are just so quick, they reverse the ball, they are so fundamentally sound. I think fundamentals is a very strong factor of their play.”
Brooks Gage led the Mohigans with 23 points and he knocked down a team-high five 3-ointers and scored all his points in the first two quarters. Alec Poland added 18 points, Sha-Ron Young scored 16, while Jalen Goins added 11 and Brody Davis scored 10.
Morgantown did use a tough man press early in the game before backing down into a zone defense. That speed was tough for a out-manned Knights team to overcome.
“What I (saw) from Morgantown was a quickness and a will to want to win,” Koontz said. “Our guys don’t show the will to win. You can’t coach quickness; we don’t have that. The will to win has got to be there and our guys didn’t even want to compete tonight, it seemed like. When that happens, I think we were just in awe of their speed and just started slow and buried ourselves.”
Kadan Farrell led Preston with 14 points while Stephen Fulton added 10.
Morgantown does not get to enjoy this offensive outburst very long as it hosts the G-Force Classic this weekend. The Mohigans play No. 4 ranked Cabell Midland at 6:15 p.m. Friday, and then face national power Bishop Walsh at 1:15 p.m. Saturday. All games will be played at MHS.
“We got to get back to work tomorrow,” Tallman said. “This weekend we have one of the best teams in West Virginia and one of the best teams in the country coming in here. We got our work cut out for us. Our schedule gets brutal fast and our next seven games are as tough as anybody out there.”
Tallman said that Cabell Midland could easily be ranked No. 1 or 2 in the state right now, while Bishop Walsh has already played three games on ESPN and brings in four high-major players to Morgantown.
Preston returns to action on Wednesday when it hosts Elkins at 7:30 p.m.
By ERIC HERTER
Preston (0-3)
Felton 4 1-2 10, Farrell 7 0-0 14, Sargent 1 0-0 3, Burnes 1 1-1 3, Long 1 0-0 2, Farles 0 1-2 1, Snyder 1 2-2 4, Thomas 1 0-0 3. Totals 16 5-7 40.
Morgantown (2-0)
Davis 5 0-0 10, Young 7 2-2 16, Goins 3 2-2 11, Marra 3 0-0 6, Gage 9 0-0 23, Poland 6 5-5 18, Neal 1 0-0 2, Danser 1 2-2 4, Powell 0 1-2 1, Workman 3 0-0 8, King 0 1-2 1, Savage 1 0-0 2. Totals: 36 13-15 102.
Preston 6 9 16 9 40
Morgantown 26 32 25 19 102
3-Pointers – PHS – Felton, Sargent, Thomas. MHS – Gage 5, Goins 3, Workman 2, Poland.
