MORGANTOWN — There’s being hot from the floor and then there’s whatever Morgantown senior Izzy Everett was against John Marshall on Tuesday evening.
Everett shot six for six on three-pointers in the first quarter en route to breaking the MHS single-game record with 10 treys as the Mohigans won 106-23. He finished with a game-high 33 points.
“My teammates knew I was hot and were feeding me the ball and let me shoot until I got cold,” Everett said. “It was a great rhythm, I was just unconscious going out there and playing my brand of basketball.”
Everett had two triples in the first several minutes of action before letting loose a barrage where he sank four straight over the span of 90 seconds to finish with six in the opening frame.
“That was the definition of rhythm tonight,” MHS coach Dave Tallman said. “I just think he’s kind of been in his head, I’ve probably been in his head a little bit. We told him just to loosen up and play his game.”
“I made the fourth on over on the left wing and when I made four in a row I was like, ‘Alright, today is my day,’” Everett said.
The sixth three-pointer may have been the most impressive as he shot it with a defender squarely in his face a good foot-and-a-half behind the arc.
“I made five in a row, might as well shoot a sixth one and see what happens,” he said.
Everett moved in from the three-point line to make a layup in the second quarter but hit one more from range before halftime to have 23 points at the break.
The Mohigans were nearly as hot as a team as Everett was individually. MHS led 42-3 after the first quarter and 62-7 at halftime.
“We were on fire,” Tallman said. “(Everett’s) been struggling a little bit but he’s been in the gym and he’s stayed positive. We need him in the tournament here so it was good to see him get going.”
Everett made another three-pointer midway through the third quarter and then another to tie the school record with nine. Knowing he was one away, Tallman left Everett in the game to play with the second team in the later part of the third.
It didn’t take him long to claim the record for himself as he hit the 10th and final trey, with a defender in his face once again, on the very next possession.
“He was locked in,” Tallman said. “I think if he shot five more he would’ve made them.”
Everett finished 10 of 12 from deep.
The MHS school record of nine three-pointers in a single game was held by Brooks Gage.
Morgantown celebrated Senior Night on Tuesday, meaning Everett’s entire family was in the stands to see him play.
“It means a lot,” Everett said. “I don’t know how many more times they’ll see me play so to go out here and be able to put on a show for my family is a great experience.”
It’s a special senior class for Morgantown made up of Everett, Sharron Young, Jacob King, J Shrewsberry and Jaylon Hill. The Mohigans are back-to-back Class AAAA state champions and are gunning for the three-peat next month.
“It’s a really special group, we’ve won a lot of games with them and hopefully we can win five more,” Tallman said.
Young, who had his own impressive outing Tuesday with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, has already left his name in Morgantown’s record book, breaking the all-time scoring record earlier this season. And now, Everett’s name will be there too, with his own record.
“I’m just really happy for him because he works really hard and it’s awesome that he gets to leave here with a school record,” Tallman said.
“Me, Jacob and Sharron have been playing with each other since third grade,” Everett explained. “To be out here and break high school records with my boys, it means a lot.”
With the win, Morgantown advances to the Class AAAA Region I, Section 1 championship, which it will host Friday at 7 p.m. The Mohigans will play Wheeling Park, 84-61 winners over Brooke Tuesday in the other section semifinal.
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 106, John Marshall 23
JM 3 4 10 6 — 23
MHS 42 20 26 16 — 106
JOHN MARSHALL — Gaiser 4 0-0 10; Fitzpatrick 2 0-0 5; Knapp 0 1-2 1; Helms 0 0-0 0; Williams 1 2-2 4; Martin 1 0-0 3; Bungard 0 0-0 0; Schenerlein 0 0-0 0; Linabarger 0 0-0 0; Haught 0 0-0 0; Snyder 0 0-0 0; Ward 0 0-0 0; Astipilitas 0 0-0 0.
MORGANTOWN — Everett 11 1-1 33; King 6 0-0 12; Young 7 0-0 15; Shrewsberry 3 2-2 9; Hill 1 2-2 4; Savage 4 2-3 10; M. Johnson 2 2-2 6; Frey 2 1-2 5; Colistra 1 0-1 2; Himes 1 0-0 3; A. Johnson 1 0-0 2; Ridgeway 0 0-0 0; Goins 1 0-0 3; Kellogg 0 0-0 0; Smalls 0 0-0 0.
3-Pt. Goals — John Marshall 4 (Gaiser 2, Fitzpatrick 1, Martin 1). Morgantown 14 (Everett 10; Young 1, Shrewsberry 1, Himes 1, Goins).
