Sports in The Dominion Post

This article appeared in the Dominion Post Newspaper on December 20, 2002.
MHS buzzes back but Bees net OT win

University High moves to 2-0 by defeating Elkins

HIGHSCHOOLROUNDUP

Ian Benson/The Dominion Post

Morgantown's Tyler Benson drives past Rusty Conner. Benson scored 14 points in the Mohigans' one-point overtime loss.

BY MICHAEL CASAZZA

The Dominion Post

The Morgantown High boys put their turnovers on the shelf long enough to make a 12-point comeback, but not long enough to hold on in overtime.

MHS trailed East Fairmont by nine points entering the fourth quarter and by 10 with less than seven minutes left, but tied the game on a Vito Minutelli basket with 28 seconds left in regulation.

But the Mohigans turned over the ball on five of their first seven overtime possessions, and Kameron Law's shooting foul on East Fairmont's Rusty Conner with 0.6 seconds to play gave the Bees a 77-76 victory Thursday.

"We had 23 turnovers, and that's the difference in the game," MHS head coach Tom Yester said. "We're having a hard time taking care of the ball, and that's where we miss having our full complement of guards because our guards were the ones turning it over."

Indeed. The Morgantown guards were whistled for a five-second violation and traveling in addition to throwing a bad pass that led to two East Fairmont points in overtime.

Morgantown (1-1) outscored the Bees, 22-13, in the fourth quarter and benefited from four straight missed layups by the Bees late in the game. Both teams played at a feverish pace in the final period, which played into Morgantown's hands at both ends.

With little time to spare, MHS had to hurry. But East Fairmont, which did have success making long passes after Morgantown scores and turnovers, didn't have to. The Bees rushed many shots and MHS gladly collected the rebounds.

"I think they tried to bury us," Yester said. "We pressed them a little bit and they started to hurry things when they didn't have to and we were able to get some scores the other way."

Minutelli played two minutes in the first half and didn't leave the bench in the second half until summoned with less than a minute left and MHS trailing, 69-67.

The 6-foot-2, 280-pound Minutelli worked free and posted up inside, creating enough space for an easy layup.

"That was actually Coach (Jeff) Hoffman's idea," Yester said. "He wanted to put him on the post because they didn't have a good matchup for him."

Minutelli started the overtime period and made two free throws for a 71-69 lead, Morgantown's first since 14-12, late in the first quarter.

East Fairmont took a 76-74 lead on a Ryan Haddox free throw with 30 seconds remaining. Law, who finished with a team-high 19 points, rebounded the missed second shot and set up at the top of the key.

A quick spin move put him in the paint and Law maneuvered his layup around the East Fairmont defense to tie the game with 17 seconds left.

But out of a MHS timeout, Conner got open with two seconds left and shot from just inside the 3-point line. Law, a 6-7 junior, challenged the shot but smacked Conner's hand. Conner made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, leaving MHS no chance.

"You'd rather make him shoot over you in a tie game instead of trying to block the shot and fouling him," Yester said. "That's just his inexperience. But without him, we don't get back in this game."

In other games:

* Robbie Dinsmore scored all nine of his points in the second half and University High turned up the defensive pressure to rally from a 25-20 deficit and beat Elkins, 43-36, in an NCAC game. Casey Jackson also had nine points for the Hawks.

* Point guard Beau Wilson poured in 27 points and guided Clay-Battelle to a 64-48 victory over Trinity. Justin Lucas chipped in 16 points for the Cee-Bees in their season opener. Brian O'Neil scored 16 points and Grant Neely 13 to lead Trinity.

* North Marion got balanced scoring -- two players with 10 points each, two with eight and two with seven -- and defeated Preston, 68-41. Bo Burnside led the Knights with 10 and Grant Westbrook added nine. Cameron Walls led PHS with eight rebounds.

E. FAIRMONT 77, MORGANTOWN 76

EAST FAIRMONT

Haddox 4 5-6 14, Dw. Jones 4 3-4 11, Conner 8 5-9 23, Wray 5 2-4 12, Slaman 6 3-4 15, Wells 0 0-0 0, Du. Jones 0 2-2 2, Nunan 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 20-29 77.

MORGANTOWN (1-1, 1-1 NCAC)

Fogarty 3 1-3 7, Murray 3 6-6 11, Benson 6 0-0 14, Law 7 3-3 19, Torsney 1 1-1 3, Minutelli 2 2-3 6, Simpson 5 0-0 10, Holt 0 0-0 0, Kerns 2 0-0 4, T. Jones 0 2-2 2. Totals 28 15-18 76.

East Fairmont 15 22 19 13 8 -- 77

Morgantown 12 19 15 22 7 -- 76

3-point goals--East Fairmont 3 (Conner 2, Haddox 1), Morgantown 5 (Law 2, Benson 2, Murray 1). Fouled out--Simpson.

UNIVERSITY 43, ELKINS 36

UNIVERSITY (2-0, 2-0 NCAC)

Robbie Dinsmore 3 2-2 9, Luzier 4 0-0 8, Mayfield 2 0-0 4, Casey Jackson 4 0-1 9, Clawges 1 0-0 3, Phillips 2 0-1 5, Casdorph 2 1-1 5. Totals 18 3-5 43.

ELKINS (0-2, 0-2 NCAC)

Pingley 1 4-8 6, Simmons 2 0-0 4, Dominic Nucilli 5 0-2 13, Canfield 1 0-2 2, Smith 1 0-0 2, Starr 2 0-0 5, Phares 1 2-2 4. Totals 13 6-13 36.

University11 9 14 9 -- 43

Elkins High15 10 5 6 -- 36

3-point goals--University 4 (Dinsmore 1, Jackson 1, Clawges 1, Phillips 1), Elkins 4 (Nucilli 3, Starr 1).

CLAY-BATTELLE 64, TRINITY 48

CLAY-BATTELLE (1-0)

Chisler 2 0-0 5, Owens 1 1-3 3, Wilson 8 8-9 27, Simpson 4 0-0 9, Lucas 7 2-2 16, Plaza 1 0-2, 2, Spears 1 0-0 2. Totals 24 11-16 64.

TRINITY (0-2)

Jabbour 3 0-0 7, Pierson 2 0-1 5, Brian O'Neil 7 0-1 16, Keys 0 3-4 3, Grant Neely 5 2-3 13, Alexander 1 0-2 2, Bolen 1-0-0 2. Totals 19 5-11 48.

Clay-Battelle19 15 14 16 -- 64

Trinity High13 9 17 9 -- 48

3-point goals--C-B 5 (Wilson 3, Chisler 1, Simpson 1), Trinity 5 (O'Neil 2, Jabbour 1, Pierson 1, Neely 1). Fouled out--O'Neil.

NORTH MARION 68, PRESTON 41

PRESTON (0-2)

Burnside 3 4-7 10, Grant Westbrook 4 1-3 9, Metheny 1 2-2 4, Walls 3 0-1 6, Boone 0 5-10 5, Blake 1 0-0 2, Martin 1 0-0 2, A. Johnson 0 0-0 0, J. Johnson 0 3-4 3. Totals 13 15-27 41.

NORTH MARION (2-0)

Sell 3 1-2 8, Lambert 1 6-10 8, Jarman 5 0-0 10, Martin 1 2-2 4, Zemus 5 0-0 10, Halin 3 0-0 6, Swiger 3 0-0 7, Pethal 3 0-1 7, Honter 1 2-3 4, Myers 2 0-2 4. Totals 25 11-20 68.

Preston High 8 10 5 18 -- 41

North Marion20 13 13 22 -- 68

3-point goals--North Marion 3 (Sell, Pethal, Swiger).

Jayvee boys

Trinity's Justin Bolen had his second straight 20-point game, netting that many in a 51-37 victory over Clay-Battelle. Robert Audia added 13 for Trinity (3-0), while Jason Thomas netted 12 for C-B. Bolen had 28 points and Audia 11 in Trinity's 54-30 vict ory over Wood County Christian earlier in the week.

Freshman girls

Blair Bradley netted 20 points, Kayla Kanosky 14 and Kellie D'Souzea 13 as University High whipped Elkins, 79-36. Heather Saffel led the Tigers with 12 and Nikki Howell added 11.

Freshman boys

* Justin Hostetler tossed in 14 points, L.C. Jefferson 13 and Justin Burrell 12 to lead University High past Elkins, 72-52. Shawn Yeager led the Tigers with 13.

* Preston defeated North Marion, 64-27, behind 19 points from Justin Kelly and 15 from Ricky Mazcko.

Middle school girls

* South Preston's Jennifer Zinn scored all but six of her team's points, but West Preston won, 39-31, with better scoring balance, led by Krista Kisner's 19 points.

* Cheat Lake topped East Fairmont, 44-24, with Sarah Henderson scoring 14 points and Mackenzie Waldo 10.

Middle school boys

TUNNELTON -- Trapper Jennings led all scorers with 21 points and teammates Josh Adams and Josh Leyton added 12 and 10 as South Preston (3-0) defeated West Preston 53-40 Thursday. Major Meyers and J.T. Davis both scored 11 points for West Preston (2-2).

High school football

Associated Press

Grafton's Trampas Efaw is known more for his exploits running the football, especially when one considers he owns the school's game rushing record at 322 yards.

But his ability to stop the run put him on the Class AA all-state team, selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association. Efaw, a senior, was selected to the second team at linebacker.

Poca senior cornerback Alan Barie is the captain of the first-team defense. In addition to setting Class AA Super Six records for passing yardage and completion percentage in a 27-7 win over Bluefield, Barie made 15 interceptions on defense this season.

James Monroe senior running back Nick Newberry, who ran for 1,846 yards and 23 touchdowns, is the captain of the first-team offense. With three 200-yard games despite poor field conditions, he led the Mavericks to a 10-0 regular-season record and a top seed in the playoffs before falling in the quarterfinals to Bluefield.