Morgantown High's Nick Hedges works against Cabell Midland's Robbie Svingos.
MHS bumped off
Midland edges into AAA final, 52-51
Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post
Morgantown High's Nick Hedges works against Cabell Midland's Robbie Svingos.
BY JUSTIN JACKSON
The Dominion Post
CHARLESTON -- Bobby Prim's last-second drive didn't have a chance.
With his team down by one point and the last seconds ticking off the clock, Morgantown High's point guard drove to the basket with hopes of pulling off a miracle.
It never happened.
Prim got caught up between two defenders and, with the referees not blowing a whistle, Cabell Midland's Mark Patton grabbed the ball and ended Morgantown High's dream season.
Behind Patton's 23 points, Cabell Midland defeated Morgantown, 52-51, in the Class AAA state semifinals, at the Charleston Civic Center, on Friday night.
The victory advanced the Knights (24-3) to tonight's state title game, against South Charleston. Morgantown's season ended at 22-4.
"I like getting the ball in those situations," Prim said of his last-second drive. "Every kid that plays basketball dreams of being in a situation like that. I wanted to shoot a jump shot, but they played good defense, so I tried to drive and create contact. They bumped into me but the referees didn't make the call, and there's nothing you can do about that."
"We wanted the last shot for the win," coach Tom Yester said, "and we gave it to Bobby, which isn't a bad call. Obviously, there was some contact, but the referee will usually hold his whistle in that situation. Those things happen."
Against a Knights team that many had predicted would play for a state title, Morgantown High went step-for-step and basket-for-basket -- and then some.
After overcoming a game-opening, 7-0 run highlighted by Patton, the Mohigans began to take control with their outside shooting and solid passing game.
Ronnie Shaver and Prim each hit a 3-pointer and Nick Hedges added one with four seconds remaining in the second quarter -- and before you knew it MHS led, 30-26, at halftime.
Patton, who is headed for Marshall University and is the favorite to win state Player of the Year honors, made his presence known immediately.
The 6-foot-9 senior blocked Shaver's first shot attempt of the game -- and the ball landed at halfcourt.
Patton also scored 11 of his team's 26 first-half points, but the Mohigans were able to keep him off the boards. Patton had only one rebound in the first half.
The second half saw both teams continue to slow down what was expected to be a run-and-gun show.
Cabell outscored MHS, 13-12, in the third quarter, behind Patton's eight points, and trailed only 42-39, heading into the final quarter.
But while Patton, who averages 21 points, was putting on a show, even he wasn't good enough to beat the Mohigans' style of true team play.
Until the fourth quarter.
Playing with four fouls, Patton started dominating the rebounds. Twice in the fourth, Patton grabbed an offensive rebound and turned it into points. He got help from teammate Ryan Stoler, who hit four 3-pointers in the game and finished with 15 points.
Geremy Rodamer and Matt Simpson came off the Mohigans' bench to contribute minutes and points. Rodamer scored eight and Simpson finished with nine.
Shaver also finished with nine points and Seth Fogarty led the Mohigans with seven rebounds.
Box score
CABELL MIDLAND 52, MORGANTOWN 51
MORGANTOWN (22-4)
Shaver 4-11 0-2 9, Vidovich 2-3 0-0 4, Prim 2-7 2-2 7, Fogarty 3-4 0-0 6, Hedges 3-3 0-0 8, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Rodamer 4-5 0-2 8, Simpson 4-5 1-1 9. Totals 22-38 3-7 51.
CABELL MIDLAND (24-3)
McComas 2-7 0-0 5, Guill 2-9 0-2 4, Stoler 5-10 1-2 15, Patton 11-20 1-5 23, Svingos 2-4 1-4 5. Totals 22-50 3-13 52.
Morgantown19 11 12 9--51
Cabell Midland 18 8 13 13--52
3-point goals--Morgantown 4-9 (Hedges 2-2, Shaver 1-2, Prim 1-4, Vidovich 0-1), Cabell Midland 5-19 (Stoler 4-7, McComas 1-6, Patton 0-1, Guill 0-5). Rebounds--Morgantown 29 (Fogarty 7), Cabell Midland 24 (Patton 8). Assists--Morgantown 8 (Prim, Rodamer 3), Cabell Midland 11 (Guill, Svingos 4). Total fouls--Morgantown 16, Cabell Midland 10. A--10,699 (evening session).