NEW MARTINSVILLE – MHS head coach Dave Tallman found himself walking familiar ground on Saturday at Magnolia High School, where he played and helped win a state championship with his father as the head coach. His team also found themselves on familiar ground in this game as they have in many games thus far, beating Parkersburg High 87-43 on Saturday in the Rotary Challenge Tournament.
Every player for MHS (10-3) that dressed saw the floor. In fact, all but one player scored points. What was even more impressive is the way the Mohigans spread the scoring around the team. They scored 87 points as a team and their highest scorer, Brody Davis, had 14. Four different players scored in double-figures as well for MHS. Sophomore Sharron Young knows that everyone seeing minutes helps those on and off the floor during games.
“I thought we played together and physical, we wanted to come out and take care of business from the jump,” said the MHS point guard. “When everyone sees the floor the bench guys can see what we do and they can come in and learn from that.”
Through one quarter, PHS held serve with MHS, only trailing by 6 going into the second. Pace of play would slow down a little coming out of the break until Tallman applied the press and picked up the defensive pressure.
“I thought our defense was really good, we did what we do on that side of the ball,” he said. “We were aggressive on the ball and forced them into tough situations.”
Another strength for the Mohigans was their ability to grab offensive rebounds allowing them to attempt many more shots than the Big Reds. The second-chance points allowed MHS to build a lead to 30-13 midway through the second quarter and they wouldn’t look back, scoring 26 in the second alone and eventually leading by 22 at the break, 44-20.
The second half would mirror the first. However, one bright spot for PHS was David Parsons, who led them with 16 points. He hit back-to-back triples to bring a little energy to the bench and his team. MHS would prove too much for PHS and would win the game 87-43.
Tallman enjoyed being back at his old stomping grounds. “It feels great, these are my people. It feels really good to come back and play at my dad’s gym,” he said.
Morgantown will look to continue their in-state dominance as they will host a matchup that will see the top two teams in class AAAA battle it out. MHS will host #2 ranked Parkersburg South on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. inside the Rowdie Center at Morgantown High School.
Morgantown (10-3)
Brody Davis 7 2-2 14 Jalen Goins 7 4-5 13 Alec Poland 5 2-2 12 Brooks Gage 9 1-1 10 Sharron Young 5 5-5 9 Cam Dancer 8 0-2 9 Koma Neal 4 1-2 5 Ethan Marra 3 0-0 4 Brady Savage 2 0-0 3 Ethan Wise 2 0-0 2 Zach Workman 1 0-0 3 Izzy Everett 1 1-2 1
Parkersburg (6-10)
David Parsons 12 2-2 16 Austin Fleming 7 3-4 5 Mason Cyran 1 0-0 2 Sammy McCale 7 0-0 5 Nate Rodriguez 4 0-0 5 Owen Collings 2 0-0 3 Andrew Stalnaker 2 3-6 3
MORGANTOWN 18 26 26 17 – 87
PARKERSBURG 12 8 8 15 – 43
3-pointers: Morgantown 9 (Davis 4, Gage 1, Goins 1, Savage 1, Dancer 1, Workman 1); Parkersburg 7 (Parsons 4, McCale 1, Rodriguez 1, Collings 1)
