MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown boys’ basketball team survived an absolute battle against Wheeling Park Tuesday, defeating the Patriots 59-45 in an OVAC Class 5A semifinal inside the Rowdie Center.
It was the teams’ second meeting in five days after MHS won 52-48 in Wheeling last Friday. That familiarity showed early in the game Tuesday as the Patriots (11-6) were able to take away Morgantown’s (18-1) usual go-to options on offense while tiring out the Mohigans’ defense with constant motion.
“We chased then a lot so we were tired but we’ve got to fight through fatigue,” MHS coach Dave Tallman said. “That’s great coaching by (Mike) Jebbia, he wore us down but at the end, I’d like to think our defense wore them down. It’s a good win.”
Usual MHS threats Brody Davis and Garrison Kisner were held scoreless in the first half and with standout point guard ShaRon Young sidelined with an injured hand, it was junior Izzy Everett who stepped up when the team needed it.
Everett scored six points in the first quarter and eight in the second to lead MHS with 14 at the half.
“Izzy’s been big time, he’s stepped up huge,” Tallman said. “I’m really proud of him, he’s doing a great job.
“Thank goodness Izzy was here (Tuesday). Other guys weren’t producing and he stepped up.”
Morgantown led 15-12 after one quarter and 32-28 at halftime. With the Mohigans all over standout Aiden Davis, Park turned to freshman Amare Johnson, who hit four treys off the bench in the first half.
Morgantown went on a 15-5 scoring run out of the break to lead by 14 midway through the third quarter, but the Patriots battled back to cut the lead to eight, 49-41 entering the final frame. Morgantown’s defense clamped down to allow just one field goal in the fourth, however, as the Mohigans pulled away for the 59-45 win.
Johnson finished with a game-high 19 points for Park while Davis ended up with 17 with three three-pointers. Those two combined for 36 of the team’s 45 points.
“A lot of our strength is driving in and getting buckets inside and it’s just not going to be there against them,” Park coach Mike Jebbia said. “Their length just causes those problems.”
“(Wheeling Park) shot the absolute lights out of it (Tuesday),” Tallman offered. “Aiden Davis is a first team all-state kid in my mind for sure. They did a great job, they schemed us up a little bit and we just had to gut it out.”
Everett led Morgantown with 15 points, Jacob King was the only other player in double figures with 10. Tallman said he wants his seniors — Broday Davis (nine points), Cam Danser (nine) and Kisner (eight) — to step up with Young sidelined.
“We’ve got to grow up,” Tallman said. “Teams are going to scheme us with ShaRon out. You go to halftime and Brody and Garrison have zero points, those guys — those seniors — we expect more out of them and they’ve got to step up and be leaders. Our seniors tonight struggled a lot and they’ve got to really step up and put the team on their back with ShaRon out.”
The Mohigans advance to the OVAC 5A finals, which will be a rematch of last season’s championship agonist Dover Saturday at Harrison Central High School in Cadiz, Ohio.
“We’ve got a chance to go win a championship on Saturday,” Tallman said. “We need to get healed up, we’re banged up and tired. We’ll give them (Wednesday) off and we’ll get back to work on Thursday.”
Wheeling Park will play at Parkersburg South Friday in a consolation third-place game. Dover defeated Parkersburg South 59-53 in the other 5A semifinal Tuesday night.
Morgantown 59, Wheeling Park 45
WP 12 16 13 4 — 45
MHS 15 17 17 10 — 59
Wheeling Park: A. Davis 7 1-2 17; Stevens 1 1-2 3; M. Davis 1 0-0 2; Phillips 1 1-2 3; Johnson 6 3-3 19.
Morgantown: Danser 3 2-2 9; Everett 6 1-2 15; king 4 0-1 10; Davis 4 0-1 9; Kisner 4 0-2 8; Neal 1 4-4 6; Johnson 1 0-0 2.
3 Pt. Goals: Wheeling Park 7 (Johnson 4, Davis 3). Morgantown 5 (Everett 2, King 2, Danser 1).
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