MORGANTOWN – Head coach Dave Tallman and the 2021-22 class AAAA defending state champions, Morgantown High are set to welcome cross-town rival University and head coach Joe Schmidle to The Rowdie Center at MHS this evening. Both the Mohigans and Hawks return from the holiday break prepared to battle for early-season bragging rights and are looking to make a statement on the road to Charleston for the state tournament.
Led by junior guard Sharron (Sha-Ron) Young, MHS is off to a blazing 7-1 start, with multiple wins over out-of-state opponents, including a victory over Lexington (SC) and 5-star prospect Cam Scott.
When it comes to Thursday against the Hawks, MHS will look to use its size and athleticism to gain the advantage over an undersized UHS team who may struggle on the boards and with the speed of MHS.
“It’s the next game on the schedule and the next opportunity for us to compete,” Tallman said. “Our guys are fresh and ready to go and we hope the community turns out for some great high school basketball.”
The Hawks begin a brutal stretch in their schedule that includes MHS in two of the next four games. In fact, for all of its games in January, UHS faces four class AAAA teams (MHS, Wheeling Park, Parkersburg South, Spring Mills) that are ranked in the preseason top 10. Despite the tough schedule, Schmidle knows this will benefit his team no matter what happens.
“I think we will have our hands full trying to match up with (Morgantown’s) size,” he said. “If we don’t keep them off the offensive glass it will be a long night. This is another opportunity for us to play one of the best teams in the state, and the more of these that we play, the better we should get.”
The Hawks are a deep squad with experience, but a true scorer is what UHS lacks. Junior guard James Fortney-Garbert has been productive for UHS so far this season with multiple double-digit outings and the duo of John Coleman and Charles Nemecek down low has been good in the past. But it will take the best game of the young season from Schmidle’s team if they want to knock off the top-ranked Mohigans.
“Our schedule is extremely difficult the next five weeks, and hopefully this will help prepare us for that stretch,” Schmidle said.” Five of our next seven games are against some of the best teams in the state. We always have room for improvement and our goal is to continue to get better every day.”
Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at Morgantown High School with JV set for 5:45 p.m.
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