MHS gets last laugh on critics

JUSTIN JACKSON

I'll be honest ... I was one of them. One of the doubters, that is.

Going into this boys' basketball season, if Morgantown High finished a few games over .500 -- thinking was that would be maxing out the potential of the team.

But, then came a 5-0 start, that included a victory over Parkersburg South in a Christmas tournament.

No big deal. It's almost customary for the Mohigans to get off to fast starts.

Then there was an overtime loss to North Marion. All right, that's more like it. Now the Mohigans were finally beginning to wake up.

They never did.

Three more victories before being blown out by Fairmont Senior -- and even that loss didn't shake their confidence.

A close loss to Martinsburg, which should have been another victory, was the only other blemish on the Mohigans' record.

Count 'em up -- 13-game winning streak entering this week's state tournament and a 21-3 record.

Nobody, and by nobody I mean even Kreskin is wondering what the heck happened, expected this out of the Mohigans.

Honestly, MHS consists of four seniors that were role players last year. Some of their roles consisted of coming off the bench.

There seemed no way possible, short of making a deal with the devil, that the Mohigans could pull off the season they've had.

But, there is one thing that no sports writer in the world, especially the ones who think they know it all, can judge about a player.

We can judge talent level, committment level and how hard they play, that we know. But, we can't judge heart.

The Mohigans are loaded with it and have the record to prove it.

Couldn't be done, huh? Look who's laughing now.

What's next

OK, with that out of the way, what's next for the Mohigans?

Glad you asked.

Are the Mohigans talented enough to win the whole thing? Without a doubt. Will they? Nobody knows the answer to that question.

First up is Robert C. Byrd at 7:45 p.m. Thursday in the first round. The two teams met on Dec. 27, with MHS coming out on top, 73-63.

If the Mohigans come out to play and don't overlook the Flying Eagles, MHS should advance to the state semifinals. Anything after that is a toss up.

MHS would probably face Cabell Midland, which features Marcus Patton, who is a state Player of the Year candidate and is headed for Marshall. That game is slated for 9:30 p.m. Friday.