MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown boys’ basketball team defeated cross-town rival University 83-55 behind a 23-point effort from Brody Davis on Thursday night to close out the calendar year.
Despite an ice-cold start offensively from both teams, a combined 82 points in the second half made for a fast-paced game that saw a lot of shots going into the air.
Unfortunately for UHS (4-4) its strong third and fourth frames were matched by the likes of Davis and the Mohigans (8-1) who scored 28 points in the third quarter alone to extend their lead to 65-34. The senior guard scored 23 points, shooting 8 for 16 from the field, including five triples.
“Great shooters keep on shooting no matter what,” Davis said after the game. “After I missed a few in the first half I had to get it out of my mind and keep going. When I have a point guard like Sha-Ron and the teammates that trust me so much it just gives me so much confidence to shoot the ball at a high level.”
Only one of two returning starters from last year’s defending state champion team, Davis’ game is a reflection of his hard work, according to head coach Dave Tallman.
“Brody just continues to be very good,” Tallman said. “He’s put the work in and this means something to him. He’s also a very tough matchup for our opponents.”
That confidence was a huge spark for MHS offensively, as the rest of the Mohigans went just 6 for 16 combined from deep.
The difference in the first half though came on the defensive end for MHS, holding the Hawks to just 15 first-half points, including just four in the first quarter.
“We took them out of a lot of what they wanted to do,” Tallman said of his team’s defensive effort. “Cam Danser and Sha-Ron did a great job of pressuring the ball and making plays. I’m happy with the win but we still have a lot of areas to improve. The goal is to get better every day and peak in March.”
Davis was joined by Young (16) and Danser (14) in double-digits for MHS.
The Hawks were led by Rafael Barcinas with 19 points. The senior guard shot 7 for 9 from the field, going a perfect 3 for 3 from deep as the only Hawk in double figures.
“Rafael was great when he was in the game for us,” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said after Barcinas was in foul trouble early on. “He came in the second half and shot the ball well when most of our guys didn’t tonight. But they are just a great team and we struggled a bit with their size. You’re not going to beat Morgantown without making shots and going 6 for 30 between two players.”
The Hawks shot just 9 for 26 as a team from deep in the game and made 20 shots overall.
“Games like this will make you better and it doesn’t get any easier from here for us,” Schmidle said.
UHS will play John Marshall next before a tough stretch of games against the likes of Wheeling Park, Linsly, Parkersburg South, and MHS one more time this season.
The Mohigans will have nearly a week off before hitting the road for a matchup against Parkersburg South in a rematch of the class AAAA championship game from a season ago, which MHS won 56-53.
Morgantown 83, University 55
MHS 17 20 28 18 – 83
UHS 4 9 19 21 – 55
Morgantown – Danser 10 3-4 14; Davis 16 2-2 23; Young 14 4-4 16; Kisner 4 0-0 4; King 3 0-0 7; Shrewberry 4 0-0 8; Johnson 2 0-0 5; Everett 3 2-2 5
University – Ford 10 1-2 8; Farrell 6 0-0 2; Barcinas 9 2-2 19; Fortney-Garbart 15 0-0 5; Hudson 3 0-0 5; Cool 5 2-2 7; Thomas 2 0-0 6
3pt goals – Morgantown 11 (Davis 5, Shrewsberry 2, Johnson 1, Danser 1, King 1, Everett 1). University 9 (Barcinas 3, Thomas 2, Ford 1, Cool 1, Hudson 1, Fortney-Garbart 1)
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