MORGANTOWN — If you look it up, it appears some people are convinced good things come in threes, while others insist that the same is true for bad things.
After Friday night’s Morgantown-Cabell Midland boys’ basketball game at MHS in the G-Force Holiday Classic, it can now be definitively proven that in fact, both are true — it all depends on your perspective, and if you ask the visiting Knights, they’d just as soon not see another three come their way anytime soon.
That’s because the Mohigans drilled a whopping nine triples, including a rare 4-point play, plus they swished a trio of foul shots on another 3-point attempt and even completed a conventional “and-one” play on their way to a dominating 72-41 victory.
From the opening tip, MHS (3-0) settled into its signature brand of hard-nosed, intense man defense, and Cabell Midland remained uncomfortable and inefficient in its halfcourt offense throughout the game. Morgantown’s dynamic sophomore point guard Sha-Ron Young scored seven quick points early (on his way to earning game MVP honors), and five different Mohigans made it rain from behind the arc, including Young, Alec Poland, Brooks Gage (who would finish with a game-high 15), Jalen Goins (his of the 4-point variety) and Brody Davis.
And when Davis’ off-balance, double clutch, contested shot went down at the buzzer, it looked like it was going to be a long night for Knights (1-1).
The balanced scoring and strong denial defensive posture from MHS continued in the second quarter, as it limited CM to just three field goals while putting up 17 points of its own to take a comfortable 37-15 halftime lead. Constant hounding from MHS defensive specialist Goins exhausted and frustrated the Knights’ talented point guard, Chandler Schmidt, especially in the fourth quarter. While Schmidt finished with a team-high 14, he was held scoreless in the final frame, and fouled out with three minutes left.
Of course, during reserves time late, the raucous Morgantown student section, festively decked out in holiday attire, roared with approval as sophomore Izzy Everett nailed — you guessed it — a baseline 3-pointer to post the final points for the victorious Mohigans.
Senior forward Alec Poland, described by his coach Dave Tallman as “our glue guy,” scored 13 points, defended and rebounded tenaciously, and was most happy with his team’s energy.
“I thought we came out super intense, right from the start,” he said. “Our offense is coming around, but when we play defense like that, it makes us hard to play against, and that’s always a good reputation for a team to have. It was a good, solid win for us.
“A total team effort. Great helping defense, great communication, we dove for loose balls and took charges. Really great job on the defensive side. We are still working on our half-court offense — it’s still pretty early in the year — but defensive effort never has an off night, and our kids embrace that. I thought we shared the ball well, and had a nice balance of scorers. I’m very happy with our effort.”
The Mohigans finish out the G-Force Tournament against Bishop Walsh (Cumberland, Md.) at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
Cabell Midland 7 8 13 13 – 41
Morgantown 20 17 19 16 – 72
CABELL MIDLAND (1-1)
Chandler Schmidt 5 4-8 14 Jackson Fetty 4 0-1 8 Dominic Schmidt 3 4-5 11 Aiden Cottrell 2 0-0 4 Tevin Taylor 2 0-0 4 Totals 16 8-14 41
MORGANTOWN (3-0)
Cameron Danser 3 0-0 7 Brooks Gage 5 3-3 15 Sha-ron Young 6 1-2 14 Brody Davis 5 1-1 12 Jalen Goins 2 3-3 8 Alec Poland 5 1-2 13 Izzy Everett 1 0-0 Totals 27 9-11 72
Three-pointers – CBHS 1 (D. Schmidt), MHS 9 (Gage 2, Poland 2, Danser, Young, Everett, Davis, Goins)
