MORGANTOWN — The top-ranked Morgantown boys’ basketball team welcomed No. 3 George Washington to the Rowdie Center on Thursday night, in the first game between the two teams since the 2021 Class AAAA state title game, won by the Patriots.
The Mohigans (20-2) never trailed Thursday despite their lead being cut to just 3 points (28-25) with 3:00 left to play in the third quarter. A balanced scoring effort and composure helped them earn an impressive victory without their best player, Sharron Young, who is still out with an injury.
MHS began the game with all five of its made baskets in the opening quarter coming from three-point range and combined with good man-to-man defense, held a 15-9 advantage after one.
“That was just how we drew it up,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said with a chuckle. “We haven’t played since Tuesday of last week and we were tired after a tough stretch, but tonight it was good to be back to being healthy and fresh and I think it made a difference.”
Senior Brody Davis scored all of his game-leading 16 points in the second half, one in which the Mohigans needed every single one to hold off a GW rally in the third quarter.
Davis, who picked up two fouls near the end of the first half and then committed a quarter-ending turnover, looked visibly frustrated leaving the court for halftime but returned to lead his team when they needed him most. The Shepard University commit shot 5 for 9 from the field and went 5 for 6 from the free-throw line as well.
“Obviously at halftime, I was down a little bit, I wasn’t playing my best game,” Davis said. “But my coaches and my teammates all had my back and I knew this was also my last regular season game at home so it was just time to leave it all out on the floor.”
The Patriots didn’t go away quietly in the second half, cutting the lead to three after two quick buckets. GW standout Ben Nicol scored just eight points on the night and wasn’t a factor offensively for the most part. Fresh legs and different defensive looks allowed MHS to disrupt the flow of the Patriot offense.
Brendan Hoffman led GW in scoring with 15 points, and as a team it shot 5 for 6 from the free throw line. Dawson Lunsford hit three triples in six attempts, but the rest of the Patriots shot just 2 for 9 from deep. MHS hit seven triples with six different players connecting.
“They are a great team, they’re going to make some runs, but I’m proud of our effort tonight,” Tallman said. “We went about 85% defense this week (in practice) and we know we have to win with our defense on those nights where you don’t make shots. I thought it was better tonight and we will try to continue that through the postseason.”
The Mohigans will host John Marshall in the first round of the Class 4A Region I, Section 1 tournament next week.
Morgantown 56, George Washington 45
MHS 15 9 10 22 – 56
GWHS 9 7 11 18 – 45
Morgantown – Danser 3 2-2 10; Everett 1 4-4 7; King 1 0-0 3; Davis 5 5-6 16; Kisner 4 0-0 9; Johnson 2 4-4 9; Neal 1 0-0 2
George Washington – Lewis 2 1-2 5; Lunsford 4 0-0 11; Hoffman 5 5-5 15; Deem 2 0-0 6; Nicol 4 0-0 8
3pt goals – MHS 7 (Danser 2, Everett 1, King 1, Davis 1, Kisner 1, Johnson 1); GWHS 5 (Lunsford3, Deem 2)
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