Sports in The Dominion Post

This article appeared in the Dominion Post Newspaper on February 26, 2003.
Mohigans keep winning streak alive, but barely

MHS edges B-U in OT, 55-53

Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post

Mohigans Chad Murray (left) and Ben Torsney tangle with B-U's Adam Kelly, in Tuesday's game.

BY JUSTIN JACKSON

The Dominion Post

A night after sitting in the stands and watching ninth-ranked Wheeling Park struggle to beat University High, the fourth-ranked Morgantown High boys' basketball team did one better.

It struggled big-time with Buckhannon-Upshur, a team with a 7-14 record after a 55-53 overtime loss to the Mohigans, on Tuesday.

"We just didn't execute very well tonight," said MHS forward Kameron Law, who scored 23 points in the victory. "We were not very focused. We got down in the fourth quarter and that made us chase after them. We got into the groove when it counted most."

The victory improved the Mohigans to 17-2 and, coupled with University High's 41-39 upset of Fairmont Senior, gave the Mohigans first place in the North Central Athletic Conference with a 12-1 record.

MHS will travel to No. 7 Fairmont Senior (11-2 NCAC) on Thursday, in a game that will decide the conference title.

As for Tuesday's game, it went back-and-forth and was 47-47 at the end of regulation.

"Give Buckhannon-Upshur a lot of credit," MHS coach Tom Yester said. "They played hard and scrappy tonight. We did not shoot the ball very well, especially in the first half. Thank goodness Kameron got hot in the second half."

Law scored 16 of his 23 in the second half and the overtime. He sealed the outcome by going 6-for-6 from the foul line in OT.

Law added that the Mohigans may have been overlooking the Bucs slightly, considering the upcoming schedule the Mohigans now face. Outside of the game with the Polar Bears, there's a home matchup with No. 5 Parkersburg South, on Saturday, and a visit to No. 3 Martinsburg, on March 3.

"We're going to find out how good we really are," Yester said.

The Mohigans nearly found out Tuesday how bad they really can be.

"I think there was some overlooking going on," Law said. "We have some really big games coming up. The state tournament really kind of starts for us now, because these next three teams will probably be in the state tournament. It's a chance for us to go out and get a little bit of respect. If we could go 3-0 in these last three games, it would give us a lot of confidence going into the sectional tournament."

Chad Murray added 10 points and nine rebounds for the Mohigans. Jim Egress led B-U with 23 points.