CHARLESTON — The Morgantown High School boys’ basketball team will start its quest to win its third-consecutive Class AAAA state title on Wednesday evening in Charleston as the No. 2-seeded Mohigans will match up with the No. 7 Wheeling Park Patriots at 7:15 p.m.
The two teams are no strangers to one another, having met four times this year, twice in the regular season, again in the OVAC 5A championship and then for the third time in the Region I, Section 1 championship game. Morgantown took all three contests by an average margin of 19 points. The Patriots only lost to MHS 62-59 at home on Jan. 17 but dropped the road game in Morgantown by 40, 84-44.
Coming in at 23-1, the only blemish on Morgantown’s record comes at the hands of top-seeded Spring Mills back on Dec. 30, 53-49. MHS is the only team in Class AAAA averaging over 70 points this season and will come into the tournament with offensive confidence. But as everyone knows and teams have learned, shooting the ball in Charleston can be a problem for some teams and that’s why MHS head coach Dave Tallman said his team’s experience and defense can become difference makers.
“Some of our players come into this week having played multiple games here and that goes a long way, Sharron (Young) has played nine himself,” Tallman said. “I also like our defense — we are going to score but if we aren’t making a lot of shots I think our defense being where it is it makes it really difficult.”
Morgantown senior Sharron Young enters the tournament averaging 22.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 6.1 steals and will look to lead his team to another title. He is joined in double-figure scoring by fellow seniors Izzy Everett at 15.3 points per game and Jacob King with 10.1.
Wheeling Park earned a 16-8 record this season with three losses coming to MHS. The Patriots average 64.0 points on offense while allowing 58.3. Junior guard Aiden Davis has had a record-setting year for WP and enters the tournament averaging 26 points per game. The Patriots enjoy spreading the floor and Davis virtually has no range, which may be something Tallman and his club will take heavily into consideration.
“They like to move the ball around a few times before they start to attack,” Tallman said. “They like to get Aiden Davis loose and if he does he can score 30 points in a hurry and we could be in trouble. But if we key on him and take him out of the game I think it gives us a good chance to win the game.
“They’re a good team,” Tallman continued. “I think they are a bit underrated — I was surprised to see them as the seven seed. It’s a tough match-up but I don’t think anybody in our class’s bracket has an easy match-up in the first round like in years past.”
The winner between Morgantown and Wheeling Park will meet the winner of No. 3 Huntington and No. 6 Spring Valley, who play at 11:15 a.m. this morning.
The Mohigans and Patriots will play in the second game of the evening session on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.
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