KINGWOOD, W.Va. — In the rafters of the Preston High gym, there hangs a banner listing the dates of ten boys basketball Sectional Championships since 1992. An impressive legacy, to say the least. While it’s true that there hasn’t been an addition to the sectional banner since 2011, there were definitive signs Saturday afternoon against a very strong Morgantown team that the Preston boys basketball program is heading in the right direction.
However, an injury-laden bench left the Knights critically short-handed, and, after forging a 1st quarter lead, Preston couldn’t hold off the hard-charging Mohigans, falling to their neighboring county rivals, 85-59.
The Knights (2-3) came out flying, playing hard, shooting well and breaking the patented Mohigans full-court trap defense for some easy transition baskets. Forward Nick Smith displayed his usual smooth offensive game, and when dynamic young point guard Jaden Fultz dropped in a delicate floater in the lane at the buzzer, the Preston faithful erupted as the home team took the 20-18 lead.
But Morgantown (6-0) turned up the intensity on defense and took advantage of a decided size mismatch in the paint. Multiple turnovers led to open looks, and in the half-court set center Carson Poffenberger — who led the Mohigans with 19 points — attacked the rim for lay-ins and put-backs. Morgantown forged an 11-point lead before the Knights whittled it back to 45-36 at the break.
In the third, three straight turnovers and a pair of triples from sharp-shooting Alec Poland quickly doubled the advantage after just 60 seconds and the Knights never threatened again. Morgantown led by 18 after three, cruised in and finished with its largest lead of the game.
Poland scored 17 points, Alex Rudy 14, and Xavier Pryor slashed to the rim effectively for 10 to round out the double-digit scoring. For Preston, Smith led all scorers with 26 points, while Austin Metheny chipped in 12 and Fultz netted 10.
A long locker room talk after the game from MHS coach Dave Tallman underscored something that a coach never wants to see from his team.
“We came out very flat, and Preston played harder than us in the first half — period,” he said. “This was the first time all season that we’ve had to coach effort, and while I understand that a season is a marathon, not a sprint, we can’t play like that and expect to be great. We have to be accountable, especially on defense, and they had too many drives and too many open looks.”
Preston coach Paul Koontz greeted his starters as they came out of the game late with a handshake and a, “We played with heart,” which was a big part of his message to his team after the game.
“That first quarter was the best continuous stretch of basketball we’ve played all season,” he said. “We executed our game plan, hit the shots we needed to hit, and were right there with one of the best, most talented teams in the state.”
Despite the loss, Koontz had an upbeat message for his Knights heading into the new year.
“We weren’t intimidated,” he said, “and our attitude is great. I told them that we will be playing a lot of teams far less talented than those guys, and if we can execute and play with the same effort every time out, we can win a lot of games. A winning season is our goal.”
BOX SCORE
MORGANTOWN (6-0)
Poffenberger 8 3-4 19; Poland 5 3-4 17; Rudy 5 3-4 14; Pryor 5 0-2 10; Rollo 2 2-2 7; Gage 1 2-2 5; McMillen 2 0-0 5; Battle 2 0-1 4; Washington 2 0-1 4. Totals: 32 13-20 85.
PRESTON (2-3)
Smith 8 8-8 26; Metheny 4 2-2 12; Fultz 4 2-2 12; Zach Shannon 3 1-3 7; Long 1 0-0 2; Thomas 0 2-2 2; Wolfe 0 0-2 0. Totals: 20 15-19 59.
MHS 18 27 21 19 — 85
PHS 20 16 14 9 — 59
3-pointers: MHS 8 (Gage 2, McMillen 1, Poland 4, Rudy, Rollo); PHS 4 (Metheny 2, Smith 2)
Junior Varsity
Morgantown 65, Preston 42
Jalen Goins and Rocco Morgano combined for 29 points as the Mohigans overcame the Knights in JV action, 65-42.
Goins netted 16 points to lead MHS, while Morgano tossed in 13. No Knight found double digits as Mason Sargent paced Preston with nine points.
