Sha-Ron Young had 20 points and 10 assists as he and Poland combined for 43 points to pace the Mohigans (8-3) past the Bulldogs, 80-51. Avion Blackwood had 20 points for Martinsburg.
Coming off of 2 straight losses, including a one-point game to Mussleman, Martinsburg (4-5) and coach Dave Roberts were looking to get back on track visiting the top-ranked team in the state. The opening quarter began as expected, with the Mohigans going on an 8-0 run on offense. Sha-Ron young was already directing traffic, and turnovers were forced on defense. Young scored 6 points in the quarter.
The Bulldogs called a timeout and came back with a run of their own to cut the lead to 3 at the end of the first at 12-9.
Then came the second quarter and whatever Mohigan head coach Dave Tallman told his guys in the huddle worked. They exploded for an 11-0 run in the first 90 seconds coming out of the break in what would eventually be a 27-point quarter. Senior Alec Poland scored 8 of his game-high 23 points in the second and was virtually doing it from all over the floor.
“I want to do whatever I can to help my team win,” said Poland. “That’s the goal every day, every game, every practice. Whatever I can do to help my guys win.”
Tallman credited the hustle of not only Poland, but his whole team, thinking that maybe this may have been one of Young’s best games so far. You could describe this as a “bounce-back” game for the Mohigan point guard after only scoring 7 points on 10 shots against University.
“He [Young] had 10 assists and only 2 turnovers and he did a great job of finding his guys when they ran hard,” said Tallman.
Poland and his team would find themselves doubling up the Bulldogs at the break, 39-18. Tallman liked his team’s shot selection that sparked the second-quarter run and allowed his team to pull away before halftime.
“We were 3 for 15 in the first quarter and I thought we came out a little sluggish,” Tallman said. “We haven’t played a game in eight days and I give Martinsburg credit, they were ready to play.”
As the second half began, the Bulldogs still couldn’t find an answer for the Mohigan onslaught as MHS scored a quick six points. Martinsburg would answer but the deficit would prove too great and Young would control the game as he had been doing since the tip.
Overall the Mohigans shot close to 50 percent as a team from the field, including 10 for 25 from three.
Morgantown will return home on Tuesday as they host Wheeling Park at 7:30 p.m.
Morgantown (8-3)
Alec Poland 17 1-3 23 Sha-Ron Young 16 0-0 20 Brooks Gage 5 0-0 9 Koma Neal 4 2-3 8 Jalen Goins 6 3-4 6 Brody Davis 4 0-0 5 Izzy Everett 2 0-0 3 Ethan Marra 5 0-0 2
Martinsburg (4-5)
Avion Blackwood 14 1-1 20 Kimorion Dowe 9 0-0 10 Cyrille Ngassa 6 0-0 6 Stephon Barkley 8 0-1 4 Jesse Sutherland 3 2-2 4 Luke Fowler 6 0-0 3 Jarin Adkins 1 2-2 2
MORGANTOWN 12 27 21 20 – 80
MARTINSBURG 9 9 17 12 – 51
Three-pointers: Morgantown – 10 (Young 4, Poland 2, Gage, Goins, Everett, Davis all 1); Martinsburg – 4 (Dowe 2, Fowler, Blackwood 1 each)
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