CHARLESTON — The Morgantown Mohigans and Huntington Highlanders will meet for the second-straight year in the semifinals of the Class AAAA state boys’ basketball tournament Friday morning at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The second-seeded Mohigans defeated No. 7 Wheeling Park 66-47 in the quarterfinals, while the Highlanders got past No. 6 Spring Valley 74-58. Huntington shot 47% (30/64) from the field against the Timberwolves and grabbed 18 rebounds on offense. The Highlanders also shared the ball well, dishing 19 assists with their 30 made baskets.
Huntington entered the tournament averaging 69.4 points per game on offense and allowing 62.7. The two sides met on Feb. 3 at the Battle for the Springhouse at the Greenbrier Resort with the Mohigans coming out with a 98-57 victory.
Despite the wide margin of the last game, MHS coach Dave Tallman and his players know how dangerous the athletic roster of Huntington can be and will make sure to be ready to deal with what is thrown at them.
“They have some quick feet and are physical,” MHS senior Jacob King said after the quarterfinals. “We need to make sure we stay in front of them and stay solid on defense and stick to out gameplan.”
Junior Brady Savage echoed his teammate’s thoughts.
“We know how athletic they are and they like to push the ball,” Savage said. “Rebounding will be big on both ends and great team defense will be what is going to help us be successful.”
“I think transition defense will be huge and rebounding like Brady said,” Tallman said. “We played a while back at the Greenbrier but we know they will come out and try to get after us because of that. We’re ready to go though, it’s Friday at the state tournament. Semifinals is a great place to be and we know every team is going to come out and give it their best effort.”
The Mohigans and Highlanders will open Semifinal Friday at 9:30 a.m. this morning in hopes of advancing to Saturday’s state championship game at 12:30 p.m.
