Justin Vidovich (left), Nick Hedges, Bobby Prim and Ronnie Shaver. "We watch out for each other," Shaver says.
The chemistry class
Four MHS seniors like family on, off court
Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post
Justin Vidovich (left), Nick Hedges, Bobby Prim and Ronnie Shaver. "We watch out for each other," Shaver says.
BY JUSTIN JACKSON
The Dominion Post
They hang out together, eat together ... win together.
In short, the best way the four Morgantown High boys' basketball seniors can describe their success this season is they're one big, happy family.
MHS center Nick Hedges: "The other guys were already friends. When I moved back to Morgantown, in the fifth grade, they took me in. We've all been friends since."
MHS forward Ronnie Shaver: "We all do everything together. At lunch, we're all at the cafeteria together. We talk to each other about everything, even outside of basketball. We talk about school or girlfriends. We watch out for each other."
MHS forward Justin Vidovich: "It's hard to describe, because saying that we're friends really doesn't cover it. We're more like family, and you can see that out on the court."
MHS point guard Bobby Prim: "Probably the easiest thing to do this year was build chemistry. We've all grown up playing basketball with each other. We know each other's moves and where each other is at on the court. We know each other."
What has really been a lifelong dream by the four seniors has now been realized:
The Mohigans (21-3) are heading for the state tournament, in Charleston, and are one of the favorites to win it.
MHS will play Robert C. Byrd (19-5), at 7:45 p.m. Thursday, in the first round of the state tournament.
"I remember talking about it with them as a little kid," Prim said. "I remember how we wanted to be seniors in high school and be on one of the best teams in the state."
Together, they've done it, even to their surprise.
"If you talked to people in the community before the season started, they said we would finish around .500," Shaver said. "We believed we would be better than that. Now, to finish No. 1 in the power rankings and go 21-3, I don't think any of us would have predicted that."
"I predicted 18-6 at the start of the year," Hedges added. "I was giving us a little room for error."
The only error this season was underestimating them. Each of the four averages in double figures in scoring. Prim leads the team at 13.3, Shaver adds 12.7, Vidovich scores 12 and Hedges averages 11.9.
"The key has been we've all played together on the same team since middle school," Vidovich said. "We all worked hard in the weight room together in the off-season. During the summers, we all played on the same team. It made us a team."
The other key factor is the four seniors are so much alike on the court.
"All four of us are basically guards," Hedges said. "None of us are really that tall, but we're pretty fast. We can shoot from the outside. We basically do the same things, but from different spots on the floor."
Now, all they want is to go out with a bang.
"We never want to play our last game," Prim said. "This has been such a great season where our dreams have basically come true. We don't want this feeling to end."