MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown High School boys’ basketball team welcomed the Parkersburg South Patriots to the Rowdie Center on Friday night in a rematch of last season’s state championship contest.
MHS (6-1) used an all-around shooting effort from deep to down the Patriots (1-6) 71-46 behind 12 made three-pointers. The Mohigans nearly made as many threes as they did twos (13).
Four players scored in double-figures for MHS, led by senior Izzy Everett with 14 points. He was joined by Marty Johnson (13), Sharron Young (12), and Jacob King (10), while eight different players scored for the Mohigans. Seven different players made a triple for MHS, including five players with two each.
The Patriots were led by Cole Joy with 12 points, followed by Harry Silvis with 11.
“The press was working early but once they started to get some shooters loose we made an adjustment at half and it worked well for us,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said. “We still pressured but we didn’t trap as much and it helped.”
The opening quarter saw a quick pace to open the game as both teams pushed the floor on offense. A quick run by MHS saw a lead grow to 11-7, but the Patriots settled in and did well to keep the deficit close to four points after the first quarter, 19-15.
The next eight minutes saw both sides slow down the pace and settle into more half-court offense. Midway through the second quarter, the Mohigans saw a lead build to 30-22 but the Patriots responded once again and finished the half strong to trail by eight points at the break, 39-31.
A 17-4 run to begin the third quarter saw MHS pull away to a double-digit advantage after three minutes played. The Patriots were just 3 for 12 from deep, while the Mohigans hit their 10th of the night midway through the frame as the open looks continued to show themselves.
“We’ve been in the gym and getting a lot of shots up this season,” MHS senior Jacob King said. “They were falling for us tonight. Our offense gets us a lot of open shots and the work we put in during practice is paying off when we have those open looks in the game.”
Morgantown grew the lead from eight points at halftime to 18 points after the third, 58-40. The Patriots opened the fourth quarter with the ball on offense but the MHS defense forced a timeout within the first 20 seconds of the frame and didn’t allow the visitors to get any closer on its way to a 71-46 victory.
“It’s great when we get that kind of effort from our bench guys,” Tallman said. “If I could start six players Marty Johnson would be the one. I know it’s cliche but he would start for any other team in the state in my opinion. Waylon (Calistra) is getting better and better, he’s only a sophomore so his head was spinning a little early on but he is settling in and playing good minutes for us. I think we could have nine guys come March who could all make an impact for us.”
BOX SCORE
PSHS 15 16 9 6 – 46
MHS 19 20 19 13 – 71
Parkersburg South – McMullen 1 2-2 4 Smith 2 0-0 5 Silvis 4 1-2 11 Joy 4 4-4 12 Joyce 1 0-0 2 Adebulu 0 1-2 1 Nutter 3 0-0 7 Mullen 1 2-2 4
Morgantown – Everett 5 2-2 14 King 4 0-0 10 Young 5 0-0 12 Shrewsberry 3 1-2 9 Colistra 4 0-1 9 Johnson 3 5-6 13 Frey 0 1-3 1 Hill 1 0-0 3
3pt goals – Parkersburg South 4 (Silvis 2 Smith 1 Nutter 1); Morgantown 12 (Everett 2 King 2 Young 2 Shrewsberry 2 Johnson 2 Colistra 1 Hill 1)
