Mohigans play long ball to beat Knights
MHS earns the bye for section tourney
PREPROUNDUP

BY JUSTIN JACKSON

The Dominion Post

"Make them chuck it from the cheap seats."

-- Dennis Hopper, in "Hoosiers"

That, in a sense, is the strategy for every Morgantown High boys' basketball game.

For a team that features no player over 6-foot-4, chucking it from the cheap seats suits the Mohigans just fine.

Just ask the Preston Knights, who became the latest victims Wednesday of the Mohigans' hot outside shooting.

"We have to be able to hit from the outside, because we have no real size underneath," MHS point guard Bobby Prim said after scoring 25 points in a 71-62 victory. "We haven't been able to knock down the outside shots consistently in our last few games. Tonight, we did."

Indeed. The No. 7-ranked Mohigans (11-3) made five of their six 3-pointers in the first quarter, with Prim knocking down three of them.

"I just couldn't believe how well they shot the ball tonight," Preston coach Barry Sanders said. "They haven't shot that well in their last couple of games. Unfortunately, they broke out of that streak tonight."

The victory secured the first-round bye in the sectional tournament for the Mohigans, while the Knights dropped to 3-12 after coming off a 12-day layoff.

"The time off might have hurt a little bit," Sanders said. "I thought the boys played well tonight. They jumped on us pretty quick and they had other leads in the game. Most 3-12 teams would give up at that point, but we didn't."

The Knights actually survived the Mohigans' first wave of 3-pointers by knocking down their own. Preston finished with nine 3-pointers, with Chris Hartley connecting on three of them before fouling out.

"They got right back into the game and you have to give them a lot of credit for that," MHS coach Tom Yester said. "They never gave up and kept their composure."

With 6:36 remaining in the game, Preston had cut the Mohigans' lead to 48-46, but couldn't withstand their final run. Three minutes later, the Mohigans had the lead back up to eight points.

"From there, we were able to get the ball into the right people's hands and make our free throws," Yester said. "I thought the way our players played down the stretch was the difference in the game."

Prim finished with 25 points, including 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the second half. Justin Vidovich added 21 points and Nick Hedges scored 11 for the Mohigans.

Preston's Thomas Hooton, who entered the game as the leading scorer in the North Central Athletic Conference, scored 14 points. Hartley led the way for the Knights with 15 and Harry Hayes and Tyler White each had 10.

MORGANTOWN 71, PRESTON 62

MORGANTOWN (11-3)

Hedges 4 3-4 11, Prim 6 9-10 25, Shaver 4 0-0 9, Vidovich 7 6-6 21, Dalton 0 0-0 0, Fogarty 1 1-3 3, Murray 0 0-0 0, Simpson 1 0-0 2, Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 19-23 71.

PRESTON (3-12)

Hooton 6 0-0 14, Hartley 5 2-4 15, Hayes 3 2-2 10, White 4 0-0 10, Born 2 0-0 4, Adams 3 1-3 7, N. Taylor 0 0-0 0, Matthews 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 5-9 62.

Morgantown 23 12 12 23 -- 71

Preston 19 11 12 20 -- 62

3-point goals--Morgantown 6 (Prim 4, Vidovich 1, Shaver 1), Preston 9 (Hartley 3, Hooton 2, Hayes 2, White 2). Fouled out--Hartley. Rebounds--Morgantown 28 (Hedges 8), Preston 25 (Hartley 6).