MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown boys’ basketball team survived a battle against a relentless Wheeling Park team Thursday in the Class AAAA Region I, Section 1 championship to take one step closer to a return trip to Charleston.
The Mohigans (22-2) had to weather an onslaught in the third quarter but came out on top of the visiting Patriots (16-8) by a final score of 69-55. The toughness in the game was expected of two teams playing each other for the fourth time this season.
The difference in the game, according to MHS coach Dave Tallman, was the Mohigans’ defense, which has been the focus of the team down the stretch of the season.
“We’ve been working like crazy on our defense,” Tallman said. “I wasn’t happy down the stretch with how we were guarding so that’s all we’ve been doing in practice. When (Wheeling Park) got by guys, we had guys there to take the charges and we have the guts to do that.”
The biggest indicator of Morgantown’s defensive success was holding Park sophomore Aiden Davis scoreless in the first half and to just 10 points overall.
“Aiden Davis is a heck of a player and I thought Izzy Everett did an unbelievable job on him tonight,” Tallman said.
Morgantown used a 12-4 scoring run to close the first quarter with a 16-10 lead and then another 12-4 run to go up 28-16 partway through the second quarter. The Patriots showed no quit, however, and closed the frame with an 8-2 run of their own to cut the lead to just six, 32-26, at the break.
“I have all the respect in the world for Michael Jebbia and his staff and their players,” Tallman said. “I think they should be seeded a little higher than people have them. I think they’re one of the better teams that we’ve played.”
Wheeling Park came out of halftime and all but took over the game, scoring nine of the first 10 points of the second half and crashing out to take a 35-33 lead.
Leading the charge was Park senior Brett Phillips, who thrice poked a ball away from an MHS player at mid-court and converted it into a bucket in transition.
“The whole month of February he’s really just let it loose,” Park coach Mike Jebbia said. “He’s played extremely well, he just has that toughness and grit to him. He kept us in it there in the late first quarter, early second.”
Morgantown was able to retake control of the contest later in the third as Park’s aggressive play led to more and more fouls, sending MHS to the foul line 10 times in the quarter. A three-pointer from Everett and another from Jonathan Shrewsberry gave the Mohigans a 47-39 lead entering the fourth quarter.
“We came out and controlled, I thought, the whole third quarter,” Jebbia said. “We had a couple of quick things happen with under a minute in the third which led to them getting a bucket or two and kind of taking control.”
Playing with a lead is where the Mohigans are at their best, as they’re able to spread the floor on offense and patiently wait until good shots present themselves. In the fourth, MHS made eight field goals and went to the foul line seven more times. Cam Danser led the way with four makes in the frame and tied for the team lead with 14 points overall.
“Cam Danser was amazing, I couldn’t take him out of the game,” Tallman said. “I told him he may need an ice bath tonight. He just really had a good floor game, he had a great game scoring the ball. He stepped up big as a senior here on sectional night.”
Along with Danser, Everett scored 14 points and Brody Davis and Garrison Kisner each had 12.
“Everybody else stepped up big time for us and got a tough win against a very tough opponent,” Tallman said. “I think our strength of schedule got us ready for tournament time.”
Phillips led Wheeling Park with a game-high 19 points, followed by 15 from freshman Amare Johnson. Aiden Davis scored 10 and had the Patriots’ only three of the night.
“Our kids played so hard and we’ve played a tremendous schedule,” Jebbia said. “Half of our losses are to Morgantown High.”
With the loss, Wheeling Park will travel to Bridgeport next Wednesday for one of the regional co-finals. The Patriots faced the same situation last season and topped the Indians to earn a spot in the state tournament.
“It’s going to be a tough game, we were there last year in a similar situation,” Jebbia said. “(Anthony) Spatafore is an all-state caliber player and they’ve got some guys around him who have really progressed as the season has went.”
Bridgeport defeated Buckhannon-Upshur 59-37 in the Section 2 final Thursday. That will send the Buccaneers to the Rowdie Center to play the Mohigans next Wednesday at 7 p.m.
“It’s a team we played well against earlier in the year,” Tallman said. “We’ll have Sharron (Young) back.”
Young has missed the last seven games with a hand injury. Thursday’s game was the first time he’s dressed since the end of January and Tallman said he will be ready to play in next week’s co-final.
“He’s chomping at the bit, he looks great. He’s back 100%,” Tallman said. “What people don’t realize is he’s been working out five, six hours a day. He warmed up (Thursday), he’s making threes like crazy. There’s nobody that’s going to work harder to get back.”
A win will earn the Mohigans a spot in Charleston and the chance to defend their Class AAAA title from a season ago.
Morgantown 69, Wheeling Park 55
WP 10 16 13 16 — 55
MHS 16 16 15 22 — 69
Wheeling Park — A. Davis 4 1-1 10; M. Davis 1 1-2 3; Wilkinson 1 0-0 2; Phillips 7 5-5 19; Demko 2 2-2 6; A. Johnson 4 7-7 15; Huffman 0 0-0 0.
Morgantown — Danser 6 1-2 14; Everett 4 2-2 14; King 2 2-2 6; B. Davis 5 1-2 12; Kisner 4 4-5 12; Shrewsberry 1 4-4 7; M. Johnson; 0 4-6 4; Neal 0 0-0 0.
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