MORGANTOWN — A spot in the Class AAAA boys’ basketball state tournament will be on the line Wednesday as Morgantown will host University in a Region I co-championship game.
This will be the third and final match-up between the two clubs this season, with MHS winning a closer game than the score suggested 67-54 on Dec. 21. UHS led by seven at one point in the first match-up before a 19-0 Mohigans scoring run in the third quarter. Senior Brooks Gage scored 25 to lead MHS as his team hit 13 total triples in the game.
The second meeting Jan. 13 saw similar shooting from MHS as it went on to hit 13 triples again against the Hawks. An injured, COVID-laden team for UHS found it difficult to keep up with its opponents. The speed of MHS on defense deemed too much for UHS as it fell 73-45. Brody Davis starred this time around for the Mohigans, hitting five threes in the game for 17 total points.
When it comes to the third match-up, however, none of the previous results or statistics matter. All that matters is making sure that your team has more points than the other team at the end of four quarters on Wednesday night. All that matters is making sure you and your teammates are the ones cutting the nets down and holding the plaque high above your heads while you get your picture taken.
MHS and head coach Dave Tallman check in as the No. 1-ranked team in Class AAAA with a record of 19-4. None of the losses have come to an in-state team and the Mohigans even have a victory over nationally ranked Bishop Walsh out of Maryland on the resume. On the season, MHS is averaging 74.7 points per game while only allowing 46.2 scored. Having played the hardest schedule out of any other team in the state, Tallman knows his guys are prepared for anything thrown at them.
“We’re just focused on us. We’ve gotten a lot better on defense throughout the season and we played our best defense on Friday [against Wheeling Park],” Tallman said. “We will continue to improve this week, we’ve broken down a lot of film and will have a plan that we need to execute. And offensively we’ve seen everything this year.”
UHS comes into the regional game with a 16-8 record, ranked No. 7 in the state. The Hawks have had a particularly strong second-half of their season, coming into the regional winning seven of their last eight games. The one loss however, deemed to be crucial, as UHS fell to Bridgeport 63-61 last week. With the winner and loser of each sectional title game meeting in the regionals, this meant that the Hawks’ road to Charleston would go through the Rowdie Center.
“I feel like we developed a much deeper bench midway through the season due to injury and COVID,” UHS coach Joe Schmidle said of his team’s growth. “This allowed our bench players to gain confidence and valuable minutes, which made us a lot deeper of a team. We can play more aggressively and at a faster pace.”
As for Wednesday, Schmidle knows his team must play their best game of the season and take advantage of their strengths to be successful.
“Our message for this game is just to stay focused and execute on both ends,” he said. “[Aaron] Forbes and [Garrison] Kisner will have to use their size to their advantage and be aggressive in the post and on the boards for us to win.”
Two teams will enter but only one will leave with the opportunity to continue playing with a trip to Charleston for the state tournament. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. inside the Rowdie Center at MHS.
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