North Central Athletic Conference
Standings
Team conference overall

West Fairmont 12-0 18-1 (#1 in state)
Morgantown 10-2 15-3 (#5 in state)
North Marion 7-5 9-9
East Fairmont 7-6 8-11
Elkins 4-6 11-8
Buckhannon 3-8 6-11
Preston 2-9 5-12
University 2-8 4-13

Shaver Named Dominion Post Prep Athlete of the Week
Ronnie Shaver was named the player of the week by the Dominion Post,
last week. He scored 27 points in a huge win at Parkersburg South
and 11 points against UHS despite playing less than 2 quarters. Morgantown
is ranked #6 and #5 in the latest two statewide polls.

Vidovich Named Dominion Post Prep Athlete of the Week
Morgantown High senior Justin Vidovich averaged 18.5 points a game
last week for the Mohigans. Vidovich scored 21 in a victory over
Preston that secured a first-round bye in the sectional. Vidovich
came back to score 16 in a victory over North Marion, including two
crucial 3-pointers to start the fourth quarter.

Mohigans Ranked #6 in Metro

The Mohigans moved down one spot in the power index from last week. Poll to published later Thursday.

NCAC Conference Leaders
Ronnie Shaver is 4th in the North Central Athletic Conference in
scoring and third in rebounding, with a 15.1 points per game average
and a 7.4 rebounds per game average. Bobby Prim is averaging 14.6
points per game and is in 6th place in the league. Bobby is in 4th
place in assists. Nick Hedges is in 2nd place with 7.6 rebounds per
game. These stats were before the games last weekend.
Scoring:
Nucilli Elk. 17.2
Lambert NM 17.2
Patella Elk. 16.5
Shaver MHS 15.1
Hooten PHS 15.0
Prim MHS 14.6
Bridges WF 13.6
Sutherl.WF 13.6
Dillard WF 13.0
Stanley WF 12.6

Rebounds:
Patella Elk. 11.4
Hedges MHS 7.6
Shaver MHS 7.4
Hannah WF 7.1
Dillard WF 7.0

Assists:
Patella Elk. 9.1
White PHS 5.5
Manchin NM 5.0
Prim MHS 4.1
Bridges WF 3.9

NCAC Website is Up and Running
The North Central Athletic Confernece now has a website which features
the NCAC leaders for Boys and Girls basketball. To access the website
go to www.wvschools.com/ncac.

MOHIGANS RANKED #9 IN AP POLL
The poll that always seems to leave out the Mohigans, has finally
recognized the fact that Morgantown has a real live championship
contender. MHS was ranked # 9 in the latest AP poll, after being
ranked #3 in the Metro Index. Morgantown will play at East Fairmont
and #5 West Fairmont this week.The polls will look a lot different
this time next week.

MOHIGANS FACING TOUGH COMPETITION
Over the next two weeks MHS will face some stiff competition as they
will face the state's #2, #6, #10, and # 17 ranked teams. Last week
they faced North Marion which is ranked # 11, however after a few
more games North will be ranked in the top five, also. Tonight, Brooke
High comes to the MAC to square off with the Mohigans. Brooke ahs
a record of 6-2 and is looking to avenge two losses last season to
the Mohigans. On Saturday, the Mohigans will host Martinsburg in
an afternoon game. Martinsburg is a favorite to win a state championship.
Next week Morgantown will travel to "the Hive" and take on the East
Fairmont Bees (#17), and later in the week will play at the Armory
against (2nd ranked) West Fairmont. The tough early season schedule
should help MHS prepare for the post season.

Two of States Best Invade MAC This Weekend
Preseason favorite Martinsburg with their plethora of division I
players and the well coached Brooke High Bruins will play at the
MAC this weekend. Over the years, MHS has played a challenging schedule,
but this year, the Mohigans have their work cut out for them. Brooke
coming off an impressive victory over John Marshall has run its record
to 7-1 and Martinsburg is 5-2, with its only losses to two national
power teams, and no lossess in the state of West Virginia, will be the challenge.
Both teams have solid chances to appear in this year's state tournament.

On Friday, Brooke and their long time mentor, Dave Reiter come to
town. Brooke has impressive victories over teams such as UHS and
Greenbriar East, with its only loss to Wheeling Park. Coach Reiter,
one of the veteren coaches in West Virginia, is in his last season as the head coach.
On Saturday afternoon, Dave Rogers will bring his Martinsburg Bulldogs
to the Morgantown Athletic Center, for a 4:00 p.m. game. Martinsburg
features 6'10 Kevin Pittsnaugle, a WVU recruit and several other
great players. There is no doubt the Mohigans will battle, and will find out what
it is going to take to win a state title.

HEDGES AND PRIM BRING IN ACADEMIC HONORS

Bobby Prim and Nick Hedges are not only good basketball players,
but are definitely great students as well. Both have been added to
the long list of former Mohigan basketball players to receive academic
honors. Coach Yester always makes academics a priority, and these
two have shown the results of hard work.
Nick was recently named a Nationl Merit Semi-finalist putting him
in a class with the top ten thousand high school seniors in the United
States. Many colleges are aggressively recruiting him for his academics,
and when they find out he is a talented basketball player, they
are even more interetested. He will find out later in the spring if
he is a National Winner.
Bobby was recently named All-American Scholar by the United States
Achievement Academy. As Bobby tries to decide which school to go
to, this honor will definitly be another "feather in his Cap." Bob
has a 4.0 GPA and an S.A.T. score above 1200.
The community of Morgantown should be proud of the achievements of
these players/ students.

Fogarty Leads AAA All-state Team
Seth Fogarty lead three Mohigan basketball players named to the AAA
All-state football team. Geremy Rodamer and Matt Simpson were named
to the second teams as Fogarty was a first team wide receiver selection.
These Players are currently participating as integral parts of the
MHS varsity basketball team.

FROSH GAME RESCHEDULED
The Mohigan Freshman team was to play East Fairmont on Thursday evening, but the referees didn't show. The game will be rescheduled for sometime in February.

SMITH TO BE COLOR COMMENTATOR
Morgantown High will once again contract with Video Quest to film our Boys Varsity home games this season. The cost of this service is $100 per game and Chris Ostein will return to do the play by play, but this year our own Nathan Smith has agreed to be the color commentator. The professional quality of the tapes offer an entertaining keep sake for famiies to keep for ever. It will be interesting to hear Nathan's comments when we watch the tapes. "I bet everyone will learn something new each game as Nathan is a very knowledgeable basketball guy," said Coach Hoffman. "Nathan not only can play the game but really knows the game. I enjoy talking to him and find that he really knows our players well. He will be a great addition to our tapes." If anyone is interested in a copy of any game, please e-mail Coach Hoffman, each tape will cost $5.00. All varsity families will receive a tape of each game. These parents are asked to send in 22 blank videotapes and a $30 check made out to Morgantown Basketball as soon as possible. This expense will help defray the cost of the taping. The boosters will be asked to pay $700 at our next boosters meeting. Our away games will be taped with our new video equipment that was purchased by the Morgantown Youth Basketball Organization. The new Canon mini-dv camera takes a very sharp image and play by play from the radio can be patched in to the production, when it is possible.

MOHIGANS TO BATTLE RCB IN CHRISTMAS TOURNAMENT

Morgantown High will host Coaches verses Cancer Holiday Tournament this year on December 27 and 28. The boys will pair off against old nemesis Robert C. Byrd from Clarksburg and Parkersburg South will battle Mt. View in the other bracket. The game with RCB will be on December 27 at 8:00 at the MAC (Morgantown Athletic Center). South will play Mt. View earlier in the day. Games times will be announced at a later time.

The game with Martinsburg that is scheduled for Saturday January 12, will be played at 2:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon. The WVU men play that evening and Martinsburg has one of the Mountaineer's recruits (6'10, Kevin Pittsnoggle) on its roster. Hopefully some of the croud for the WVU game will wonder into the MAC and maybe we can show them what kind of a team we have. The original game time was at 6:00 and 7:30.

Princeton will come to town on February 23. They also have a 6'10 player and some say they are favored to win their region that also includes Beckley.

FROSH OPEN CAMPAIGN THIS WEEK
Coach VanVoorhis will put his 9th grade team to the test this week as they open with a game at Bridgeport on Wednesday, and host Elkins on Thursday. The "Baby Mohigans" are a small but talented group which offer outstanding shooters and good skill at all poistions. At the post postions there are six players that will see action. The tallest and biggest is former Trojan, Nick Dorinzi. Nick brings his fine shooting touch and nose for the ball to MHS and will play both the four and five positions. Ben Dotson will fine tune his football body as he rounds into shape. He is a very athletic and quick post and can put pressure on his opponent all over the floor. Alex Mascioli and Steve Lemmon will split time at the five as they offer good size and are very physical. Nick Straface and Andrew Dunn will play both the four and the three as the combine athletic ability with good skill. Andrew Has developed into a good perimeter shooter. At the guard postions, Justin Hall will share time at the point and two postion. He possesses good ball handling skills and is a deadly shooter. Dust Kerns, will play the two, mostly as he has the ability to score from anywhere on the floor. John Oliver has developed into one of, if not the best, shooters in the program. He has shown marked improvement in his ballhandling since last season. Emil Siriwardane is the one player on the team that knows where everyone is supposed to be and is shooting the ball very well. Chad Callen and Spencer Farley bring quickness and strength to the guard position as they can move the ball up and down the floor and put pressure on the ball. This team will be fun to watch, so come out and support the Mohigans!

VARSITY HANDLES KEYSER 112-57
The MHS Varsity took it to Keyeser on Friday evening in Keyser by a score of 112-57 in six quarters. Leading the way with 26 points was Justin Vidovich. In all seven players scored in double figures. Ronnie Shaver had 15 points and 10 rebounds, Bobby Prim had 13 points and 8 assists, Nick Hedges had 13 points and 9 steals, Seth Fogarty had 13 points and 8 rebound and 6 assists, Matt Simpson had 14 points, and Chad Murray chipped in 11 points. MHS will host John Marshall on Friday at 6:00.

JUNIOR VARSITY DOWNS KEYSER 57-24
The JV team went to Keyser and played very sloppy, but came away with a good start to their season. Defense was the key as Keyser only had 12 points after 3 quarters. Ty Benson had 18 points and Josh Durham had 14 points. Buzz Williams had 6 steals, Kameron Law lead the team with 5 assists. Ben Torsney had 8 rebounds, Zack Solly had 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Ty Jones had 4 steals, and Drew Holt had 3 rebounds. The JV team will host John Marshall in the Clyde Gym on Friday at 5:45.

MYBO TEAM CLAIMS FALL TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP

It started with 12 teams and one team was left standing as the Morgantown Youth Basketball team of potential Morgantown High players claimed the fall tournament of the Rim Rockers league in Clarksburg. Justin Vidovich came up big with 26 points in a 10-19 night from the floor as MYBO pushed back the talented Bridgeport Indians 79-74. Two nights earlier MYBO bounced the same Indian team into the losers bracket with a 79-55 thrashing.

"Vido came up big when it counted," an out of breath Ronnie Shaver (17 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 6 steals) said. "Justin came to play, he hit big shots, came up with big steals and guarded their best player. He showed that all of the hard work has paid off, this summer.

Ronnie Shaver showed that his hard work has paid off also, by sporting a 15.6 points per game average, 7.4 rebound average. 4.8 assists per game average and a 2.2 steals per game average in the 5 game tournament. "Ronnie deserves this as no one has worked as hard as him around here in a long time. He is going to have a great season, next year," said winning coach Thad Law. "Nick Hedges (15.2 points per game average, 8.6 rebound per game average and 2.8 assists per game average in the tournament) has had a couple of 20 point, 13 rebound games and Bridgeport saw that and doubled him, leaving Justin alone to bury them. Bobby Prim (12.4 ponts per game average, 4.6 assists per game average) and Ronnie did a good job of recognizing that they were taking Nick away. They just fed Justin instead, and eventually we pulled away. Bridgeport is as good a high school team as there is in the area, and we feel fortunate to have beaten them. They were a little tired and with Carbaccio just moving in, their timing is a little off. Our guys have been playing 50-60 games a year together for 6 years and thats a huge advantage. Bridgeport will be in the running for another AA state championship, and are good enough to beat any AAA team."

Nick Carbaccio led Bridgeport with 24 points and Brandon Brumage had 17 to lead Bridgeport. Chad Murray averaged 10 points per game in the tournament for MYBO who will play in the Rim Rocker fall league later this month.

Vidovich and Shaver do insane workouts August 21, 2001

By Thad Law (Morgantown Youth Basketball Organization coach)

As we approach next season at Morgantown High, it becomes very apparent that Justin Vidovich is serious about his new role with MHS. Not only committing to the weightroom, but working out several days a week with Ronnie Shaver has given MHS a tandem to count on. I have witnessed their sometimes insane work ethic (thanks to Nathan Smith) as they do all of their ball handling with two balls, not one, in the intense heat of the summertime. Jumpshot after jumpshot are part of their work as they can't finish a drill until they reach a goal. This may cause the drill to last several minutes at a time, but they never quit. Both have solidified their games this summer as they averaged double figure points and 8 rebounds per game in summer league and summer tournaments. Surely as the season rolls around they will benefit from all of their insane workouts. Hopefully Morgantown High will benefit, also.

Justin's father, John, was a WVU basketball player and while on the freshmen team he averaged 19.1 points a game and is among the all-time leaders in freshman scoring. Ronnie's father, "Swifty" played for the Mohigans from 1968 -'70.

Hedges scores a 1360 on his S.A.T August 21, 2001

Senior standout, Nick Hedges recently received his S.A.T. college entrance test score, and did quite well. Scoring 1360, which put him in an elite class as he scored in the top 10 percent, nationally. Nick has maintained great grades, as he has committed to an off-season regimen of 4 days lifting and playing basketball three or four days a week. Nick has also been busy volunteering for United Way, American Red Cross, working for the elderly as well as coaching area youth basketball teams. When Nick begins looking for schools to attend for college, this will expand his possibilities. He hopes to play basketball and attend a small academically challenging college. We are very proud of you Nick!

Prim has plenty of red & blue blood July 28, 2001

Bobby Prim, starting point guard on last years Mohigan basketball team, has plenty of MHS red & blue blood in his body. Dick Prim his father and Tara his mother both played for MHS varsity basketball teams. Tara was very fortunate to be a member of MHS's first girls State Champion team in 1977-78. Bobby just finished playing baseball for the state runner-up Legion baseball team and has picked up his basketball workouts pace for this season. Follow this link to the Dominion Post to read the article about Tara & that championship team. http://www.dominionpost.com/a/sports/2001/07/06/ac/

Shaver awarded MVP at Wootten camp. June 2001

Ronnie Shaver had a successful camp at the prestigious Morgan Wootten basketball camp this summer on the Frostburg State campus. He was the winner of the camp MVP award which goes to the best player at the camp of over 500 players. Ronnie also was the shootout winner as well as runner up in the one on one competition, losing to teammate, Nick Hedges. His team was runner up in the five on five competition and his team won the three on three championship. In the final round of the shootout he had to hit 9 three pointers in 30 seconds. The MVP award is given in honor of the late Jack Bruin, former coach at Colgate University. The main criteria for selecting this award was the player that was selected had to be the player that the coaches would most want to have on their team back at home. We are glad we have Ronnie at MHS. Congratulations, Ronnie!