CHARLESTON — Morgantown High will play in the Class AAAA championship game for the fourth-consecutive season with a chance to capture a third-straight title, after defeating Huntington 71-56 Friday morning in the semifinals of the boys’ state basketball tournament in Charleston.
Senior Sharron Young led the Mohigans (25-1) with 32 points on 13 made field goals. He scored 14 in the first half and 18 in the second to help his team build an extended lead down the stretch.
MHS junior Brady Savage contributed a double-double of 10 points while ripping down 15 rebounds, with nine on the offensive end.
The Highlanders (17-9) were led by sophomore Tayveon Wilson, who added a double-double of his own with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
“I’m super-proud of my guys today — Huntington is a very-talented team” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said. “We got them earlier in the year by a good margin but I told our guys after that game that they were much better than that result. Those kids are competitive, Huntington is a winning school athletically. We grinded it out and kept our heads in it when it got a little crazy out there.”
The game opened at a lightning pace with both teams pushing the ball down the court, running lanes, and attacking the paint. Both teams got stops on defense but also responded on offense with some tough buckets. MHS took an 18-13 lead into the second quarter.
Young only scored two of his 14 first-half points in the first quarter as HHS senior Mikey Johnson did well against his match-up on defense.
But just 90 seconds into the second quarter, Johnson picked up a technical foul after a dunk that gave him his fourth personal which forced him out of the game and forced a defensive switch for the Highlanders.
Young scored 12 points after Johnson was subbed out but Huntington didn’t allow the setback to deflate its confidence.
A layup by Young at the 4:53 mark extended the lead to seven as MHS threatened to pull away, but a personal 5-0 run for Wilson kept the game in reach for HHS and it would trail by just two points going into the locker room, 36-34, after Young converted a layup to end the half.
“We like the game to be fast, we just did a bad job in defensive transition at times,” Tallman said. “They did a great job of attacking our press and we even got out of it in the second half. We let them get loose a little bit and get some paint touches, so we adjusted that at halftime.”
Each team had 24 points in the paint at halftime.
Midway through the third quarter, the Mohigans built a 10-point lead, 48-38, with Johnson still on the bench, but the Highlanders had a fight in them and went on an 11-5 run to conclude the frame. Shrewsberry hit an off-balance jumper at the buzzer to grow the lead to four, 53-49.
Once again, the Mohigans made the difference in the game in the fourth quarter. After outscoring Wheeling Park 23-9 in the fourth on Wednesday in the quarterfinals, MHS used an 18-7 advantage over the final eight minutes to pull away on Friday. Despite only attempting eight shots in the final quarter, the Mohigans made five of them and converted 7 of their 10 attempts at the free-throw line to cushion the deficit and cement their place in tomorrow’s championship game.
Young finished with a game-high 32 points, with 18 coming in the second half.
“I’m telling myself to just stay relaxed and trust in my ability,” Young said of his fourth-quarter mindset. “Listening to my coaches and trusting my teammates is huge and it helps us stay calm.”
Morgantown doesn’t lack experience, as it will play in its fourth-consecutive Class AAAA state championship with eyes on winning a third in a row. The Mohigans will play in their 12th game at the state tournament in four years. The lone loss came to George Washington in 2012 by a single point, 47-46, Young’s freshman season.
“We will watch the other semifinal tonight, get out the notebook, and make any changes if we need,” Tallman said before the second Class AAAA semifinal, won by No. 1 Spring Mills. “Before we come down here we scout every team. Both of the other teams are long and athletic and will get after it. It’s the state championship, we are going to give it our best shot, they’re going to give it their best shot.”
Morgantown will take on Spring Mills, a 59-28 winner over South Charleston in the semifinal round, Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Young reflected on it being his 12th game in the Charleston Coliseum and his final for MHS under Tallman.
“I want to thank Coach Tallman for allowing me to join this team as a freshman and learn from the ones before me,” he said. “We just have to take it one quarter at a time and play our game and give it our best.”
Spring Mills is the lone blemish of the 25-1 record of MHS, as the Cardinals won 53-49 at home on December 30.
“It’s a dream and an honor to play Morgantown because we have so much respect for that program,” SM head coach Luke Samples said. “I know we are the number one seed but we still feel like the underdogs. Both teams are really good and both teams have really good players. It’s going to come down to who can simply perform better and execute their game plan better. If both teams come out like we know they can, it’s going to be one heck of a show tomorrow.”
Morgantown will surely look forward to the chance to avenge its only loss, but before knowing who their opponent would be, Young, Savage, and Shrewsberry gave their thoughts on who they would prefer to play in the title game.
“It doesn’t matter,” they said in unison.
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