Sports in The Dominion Post
This article appeared in the Dominion Post Newspaper on March 18, 2004.
No. 1 MHS one, done at state
Huntington's fast start buries Mohigans boys
AP photo
MHS's Kameron Law drives to the basket against Huntington.
BY JUSTIN JACKSON
The Dominion Post
CHARLESTON -- Apparently, it's not a good idea to enter the boys' state tournament as the No. 1 team.
No. 4 Huntington jumped to an 11-0 lead and dominated in every category to pull out a 63-52 victory against top-
ranked Morgantown, on Wednesday night, at the Charleston Civic Center.
It was the second consecutive year the top-ranked Class AAA team lost in the first round. Spring Valley did it in 2003.
"We were slow to the ball, we didn't look like ourselves tonight," MHS coach Tom Yester said. "Huntington out-hustled us. They did a great job of rebounding. We couldn't get our offense going until it was too late."
It seemed no matter what the Mohigans (23-2) tried to do, Huntington (22-3) was one step ahead. Besides the 11-0 start, which ended when Chris Carey scored with 3:56 left in the first quarter, the Highlanders owned a 21-8 rebounding advantage in the first half.
"They got off to that quick start and it was like a deer in the headlights situation," MHS forward Kameron Law said. "They were more physical that us tonight. They just outmanned us."
Huntington advanced to a semifinal showdown Friday with No. 4 Woodrow Wilson, which defeated Robert C. Byrd, 85-46.
The Mohigans leave their third straight state tournament wondering what happened.
"It was a sub-par shooting night for us," Yester said. "Tyler Benson didn't have one of his better nights. We didn't get the ball down low enough in the first half and we couldn't get Kameron any good looks. Huntington's defense was better than our offense tonight.
"It was a little bit of everything. I don't know why we came out flat. If I knew, we wouldn't be doing it."
Huntington ended the first quarter leading, 18-6, but the Mohigans made two runs in the second and third quarter. Marlin Robinson's 3-pointer cut Huntington's lead to 22-16 with 3:20 left in the second quarter. The closest the Mohigans got was 35-30 with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
"We got it down to five and I was confident that we were coming back," Benson said. "Then they pushed it back up to eight points and then to 10 points. We started to panic. It just didn't happen for us tonight."
While the Mohigans were stunned, Huntington just kept making key baskets and rebounds. Adam Yeager led the Highlanders with 22 points and seven assists. He went 12-of-13 from the foul line in the second half. Parks Ward added 19 points and 13 rebounds for Huntington.
"You really have to give Huntington all the credit," Yester said. "We just didn't do it tonight and they did."
Carey led the Mohigans with 13 points and Ben Torsney added 12 points and 12 rebounds. Law, who scored 26 points in the Region I final, against John Marshall, finished with nine points and five rebounds.
Huntington 63
Morgantowntown 52
HUNTINGTON (22-3)
Taylor 3-9 0-0 7, Yeager 4-8 12-13 22, Thomas 1-3 0-0 2, Patterson 4-8 0-0 8, Ward 8-18 3-4 19, Cheeks 0-2 0-0 0, Clayton 0-0 0-0 0, Arrowood 0-0 0-0 0, Wild 0-0 0-0 0, Myers 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 2-7 1-1 5, Pleasant 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-55 16-18 63.
MORGANTOWN (23-2)
Benson 2-10 2-2 8, Kerns 0-0 0-0 0, Law 4-9 0-0 9, Carey 4-12 4-4 13, Torsney 6-13 0-0 12, Hall 1-1 0-0 3, Oliver 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 1-1 0-0 2, Straface 0-1 0-0 0, Dunn 0-0 0-0 0, Holt 0-1 0-0 0, Robinson 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 20-54 6-6 52.
Huntington18 8 10 27--63
Morgantown 6 12 12 22--52
3-point goals--Huntington 3-6 (Yeager 2-3, Taylor 1-2, Cheeks 0-1), Morgantown 6-20 (Benson 2-6, Hall 1-1, Robinson 1-2, Law 1-3, Carey 1-7, Oliver 0-1). Rebounds--Huntington 38 (Ward 13), Morgantown 30 (Torsney 12). Assists--Huntington 16 (Yeager 7), Morga ntown 7 (Carey 3). Total fouls--Huntington 8, Morgantown 16.
Boys' state tourney
Through Saturday at Charleston Civic Center:
CLASS AAA
Quarterfinals
Wednesday
Woodrow Wilson 85, Robert C. Byrd 46
Huntington 63, Morgantown 52
Today
Hedgesville (22-3) vs. North Marion (14-10), 11:15 a.m.
Capital (15-9) vs. St. Albans (17-7), 7:15 p.m.
Semifinals
Friday
North Marion-Hedgesville winner vs. St. Albans-Capital winner, 5:30 p.m.
Woodrow Wilson (21-4) vs. Huntington (22-3), 9 p.m.
CLASS AA
Quarterfinals
Wednesday
Westside 58, Oak Glen 49
Winfield 68, Calhoun County 50
Lincoln 69, Keyser 52
Bluefield 42, Logan 40
Semifinals
Friday
Winfield (20-6) vs. Westside (21-3), 9:30 a.m.
Lincoln (20-4) vs. Bluefield (20-4), 1 p.m.
CLASS A
Quarterfinals
Today
Valley Fayette (18-6) vs. Parkersburg Catholic (13-12), 9:30 a.m.
Wheeling Central (14-11) vs. Williamson (18-8), 1 p.m.
Tucker County (17-8) vs. Trinity (17-7), 5:30 p.m.
Mercer Christian (11-12) vs Tolsia (17-7), 9 p.m.
Semifinals
Friday
Valley Fayette-Parkersburg Catholic winner vs. Wheeling Central-Williamson winner, 11:15 a.m.
Tucker County-Trinity winner vs. Mercer Christian-Tolsia winner, 7:15 p.m.