CHARLESTON – The Morgantown High boys’ basketball team is the 2022 WVSSAC Class AAAA state champion after defeating Parkersburg South 56-53 on Saturday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Head coach Dave Tallman earned his second title as head coach at MHS (2016), the second in school history, and the Mohigans accomplished the goal they were within 10 seconds of a year ago when George Washington stole the title with a last second bucket.
Brody Davis opened the scoring with a tip-in bucket off a missed MHS (23-4) lay-up, a Sha-Ron Young steal and finish on the fast break would give the Mohigans the early advantage at 4-0.
PSHS would receive its first points on a Riley Street free throw and Ashton Mooney jumper to keep it close at 4-3. Street exited the game for the moment after a hard collision with MHS’s Brooks Gage.
The Patriots added another free throw but weren’t able to score another field goal in the quarter as they shot just 1 of 9 from the field. MHS benefited from eight additional points to hold a 12-4 lead after one.
After just 90 seconds played in the second quarter, PSHS already doubled the amount of buckets it made in the first quarter as the deficit was cut in half to 12-8 in the blink of an eye. Cam Danser continued his efficient play coming off of the bench for MHS. He made another immediate impact with four points and a few key rebounds defensively.
PSHS standout Cyrus Traugh picked up his second foul halfway through the quarter and just like when Wayne Harris exited for South Charleston on Friday in the semifinal, MHS took advantage. A 14-4 scoring run allowed the Mohigans to increase their lead to 14 at 26-12 with just two minutes to play until the break.
Both teams added four points from that point and after one half played, MHS held a 28-16 lead. Gage led all scorers with eight points while also grabbing six rebounds. The Mohigans shot 12 of 23 from the floor in the first half as a team.
After two minutes played in the third, baskets had been traded by each team until a PSHS steal and lay-up decreased the gap to eight at 30-22.
After a Mohigans basket, Riley Street would sink a triple for the Patriots to bring them within seven at 32-25. Young responded with a lay-up and the foul on the other end and gave his team another extended lead at 12, 37-25.
PSHS’s Cyrus Traugh hit just his second basket on a triple from the wing, followed shortly by his teammate Devin Hershberger converting a tip-in to cut the Mohigan lead to just seven at 37-30.
One more possession allowed MHS to make the lead nine, but PSHS getting the lead under 10 before the fourth was a huge momentum-booster.
The Patriots continued to add points, but couldn’t seem to find a defensive stop as the lead remained 9 points in favor of MHS, 45-36 after two minutes played.
Finally, they held on defense and would get a lay-up from Mooney to bring the lead to 7, but Young answered with a triple from the left wing to bring the MHS lead back to double-digits at 48-38. Young stepped up once again for his team with a blow-by dribble and lay-up, but his efforts would be answered with a jumper by Mooney and a steal by Hershberger off of a steal. The lead remained under double-digits at eight, 50-42, with three minutes to play.
“After I got into foul trouble, my brothers came and picked me up and they were just keeping me confident and my coaches kept calling great plays to set us up,” Young said.
After Gage missed a jumper for MHS, the Patriots got a huge three from Mooney to cut the lead to just five at 50-45, forcing MHS to call a timeout.
Both teams got a bucket out of the timeout to keep the lead at five, 52-47 for MHS. The Mohigans had the ball with 51.7 seconds to go looking to put this one away. The Patriots nearly stole the inbound pass from MHS, but after a scramble Alec Poland would be fouled and extended the lead to seven for his team at 54-47. PSHS answered quickly with a bucket and immediate timeout down five and looking for the ball back.
Dreams became reality for the Patriots as the inbound pass was tipped and laid in by Mooney to make the lead one possession at 54-51 in favor of MHS.
Poland missed the front-end of a 1-and-1 to give PSHS the ball with a chance to tie the game. Mooney was fouled on a lay-up and sink both free throws to make it a 1-point game with 11.3 seconds to play, 54-53.
Davis hit two free throws for MHS with 11.3 seconds to play to give his team the lead at 56-53. PSHS had the ball and a chance to tie it, however Young would once again put his stamp on the game and steal the ball from Mooney to let the time expire.
This is Morgantown’s second state championship in school history and second in six years.
“We’ve been working on our defense all year and on offense we didn’t execute down the stretch very well or make shots for the most part,” Tallman said. “Sha-Ron hardly played in the first half, but our defense won this game. Give Park South a ton of credit, they played their guts out and they are a great program.”
Morgantown (23-4)
Sha-Ron Young 10 1-1 16 Brooks Gage 15 2-2 12 Brody Davis 6 4-4 12 Alec Poland 9 2-5 6 Jalen Goins 4 0-0 6 Cam Danser 2 2-2 4
Parkersburg South (22-4)
Ashton Mooney 19 6-6 23 Cyrus Traugh 12 0-2 9 Caleb Schaffer 4 3-4 9 Riley Street 4 1-2 4 Devin Hershberger 2 0-0 4 Brady McMullen 1 0-0 2 Aiden Blake 2 2-2 2
MORGANTOWN 12 16 13 15 – 56
PARKERSBURG SOUTH 4 12 16 21 – 53
Three-pointers: Morgantown 1 (Young 1); Park South 3 (Traugh 1, Mooney 1, Street 1)
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