MORGANTOWN – The inaugural Little General Holiday Classic hosted by Morgantown High School concluded on Saturday with the Morgantown and University boys’ basketball teams hitting the court for the second day in a row.
For the second consecutive game, UHS (3-3) found itself competing in the opening quarter before allowing the other team to get into a rhythm and extend a double-digit lead to an unreachable margin.
On Friday, before losing to Jefferson by double-digits, the Hawks actually held a lead on the Cougars in the first quarter. Saturday was a repeat of that, as after one quarter UHS held a lead 16-15 on the heels of a 8-0 run to end the first.
To take it one step further, the Hawks came firing out of the gate in the second quarter and jumped out to a four point lead at 23-19 with 5:30 left to play.
“When we are good we are really good,” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said on Friday after the Jefferson game. “But when we struggle we really struggle.”
Schmidle’s observation would prove to be true, as from the 5:30 mark on in the second quarter, UHS didn’t score as the Tigers exploded for a 13-0 run and snatched the lead 32-23 going into the locker room.
The nine point lead swelled to twelve after the third quarter, leaving the Hawks with little time to make any sort of run against the talent of SS. The Tigers would bounce back after a loss to Morgantown on Friday with a 65-49 victory over UHS.
The hosts, MHS (4-0), squared-off against the Cougars of JHS in a matchup of two top-five teams in class AAAA.
After a close opening quarter, in which the Cougars nailed six three’s as a team, the Mohigans would find their footing and use a strong second quarter to pull away, eventually winning 87-57.
“Our defense had some breakdowns in the first quarter and we just needed to figure it out,” said MHS head coach Dave Tallman after the game. “I thought we made some good adjustments to tighten it up a little bit and stop what (Jefferson) were doing.”
Each team stood at 20 points after the first quarter behind some hot shooting. MHS senior Cam Danser hit four triples himself in the first to keep pace with the Cougars. Danser led all scorers in the game with 26 points while shooting 10 for 13 from the floor, including the five three’s. Danser has taken a big step this season after the Mohigans lost a big chunk of their offensive scoring last year’s championship team.
“After we won the state championship, the next day I was in the gym,” Danser said after Saturday’s performance. “Last year I learned from the leaders that we had and I’m trying to use that knowledge to also help the team in that way too. We all need to hit the glass a little more, especially myself.”
MHS outscored the Cougars 26-8 in the second quarter and never looked back as five different Mohigans scored in double-figures. Along with Danser’s 26, ShaRon Young had 16, and Brody Davis 13. Garrison Kisner and Izzy Everett scored 10 a piece.
Morgantown 87, Jefferson 57
MHS 20 26 26 15 – 87
JHS 20 8 15 14 – 57
MHS – Young 8 4-5 16; Davis 10 1-2 13; Danser 13 1-1 26; Kisner 8 0-0 10; Shrewsberry 2 0-0 3; Neal 3 1-1 1; Everett 6 4-4 10; King 4 2-2 4
JHS – Gladney 18 0-0 22; Johnson 7 0-0 6; Jenkins 11 0-0 9; Wi. Shively 14 1-2 14; Wy. Shively 3 0-0 5
3pt goals: MHS 8 (Danser 5, Shrewsberry 1, Everett 2); JHS 15 (Gladney 6, Jenkins 3, Shively 3, Shively 1, Johnson 2).
Shady Spring 65, University 49
UHS 16 7 9 17 – 49
SS 15 17 12 19 – 65
UHS – Coleman 4 2-2 6; Cool 6 0-0 9; Bandy 0 2-2 2; Ford 13 0-0 13; Farrell 7 0-0 4; Barcinas 11 2-2 9; Fortney-Garbert 10 0-0 6
SS – B. Chapman 19 1-2 26; C. Chapman 5 2-4 11; Holstein 6 1-2 9; Jordan 2 2-2 6; Manns 5 0-0 2; Maxwell 5 1-3 3; Bailey 1 1-2 3; Williams 2 0-0 2; Green 2 1-2 3
3pt. goals: SS 6 (B. Chapman 3, C. Chapman 3); UHS 7 (Ford 3, Cool 3, Barcinas 1).
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