MORGANTOWN — The MHS boys’ basketball team continued on the path to defending last year’s state title on Wednesday evening with a 79-43 victory over sectional opponent Wheeling Park.
The Mohigans (13-1) turned an 11-point halftime lead into a 31-point advantage in the third frame on the heels of a 17-0 run in the quarter. MHS junior Sha-Ron Young led all scorers with 23 points. Brody Davis added 18 for the Mohigans, and Cam Danser 13. WP was led by sophomore standout Aiden Davis, who scored 17 points, including four three-pointers.
“If we come out every game and put 32 minutes of good defense together, we are a very dangerous team,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said after the game. “It was good to come out and play well on our home floor, it’s been a while since we’ve played here. Our offense came from our defense today.”
Not to be forgotten was the offensive effort from MHS, as it began a perfect 5 for 5 from the floor as a team, including 3 triples. The Mohigans ended the first frame 8 for 11 and held a 19-10 lead.
The Patriots didn’t back down, however, as Aiden Davis kept his team in the game, trailing MHS by about 10 points for the final few minutes of the first half. The sophomore shot 6 for 12 from the floor with 4 threes. Park also did well to hold MHS to just three points in the final 3:20 in the second quarter. The Mohigans held a 33-19 lead before that point and could’ve made their advantage greater than 11 if not for the solid play of the Patriots to close out the half.
But then came the difference-making third where the Mohigans flipped a switch and swelled a lead they wouldn’t even think of surrendering.
“We have a lot of depth also and it helps a lot, we can go 8 or 9 deep if we have to,” Tallman said. “We can put fresh bodies out there. Izzy (Everett) started and played well, Koma Neal gave us great minutes, Jonathan Shrewsberry gave great minutes.”
MHS remains undefeated against in-state competition and will feel good about a strong second half against in-section opponent WPHS.
“This is a big game for us against a sectional opponent and a big game for us in the OVACs also if we want to keep the one-seed,” Tallman said. “We are going to win this thing with defense. If we want to reach our goals it will be on the defensive end. The offense will be there, we don’t worry about that. We are hardest to beat when the defense is working well.”
Morgantown 79, Wheeling Park 43
MHS 19 17 27 16 – 79
WPHS 10 15 7 11 – 43
Morgantown – Young 13 0-0 23; Everett 7 0-0 7; Danser 8 3-4 13; Davis 10 4-4 18; Kisner 4 0-0 6; Shrewsberry 4 0-0 8; Hill 0 1-2 1; Murray 1 0-0 3
Wheeling Park – Davis 12 1-2 17; M. Davis 6 2-2 9; Gibson 4 0-0 3; Wilkinson 6 0-0 6; Phillips 3 2-2 2; Johnson 1 0-0 3; Stephens 3 1-1 3
3pt. goals – MHS 11 (Young 3, Danser 2, Davis 2, Shrewsberry 2, Murray 1 Everett 1); WPHS 7 (A. Davis 4, M. Davis 1, Johnson 10)
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