MORGANTOWN 74 BROOKE 65

Mohigans, Knights doing the Charleston

Carey and Robinson lead way

BY TODD MURRAY The Dominion Post

WHEELING — The leatherlunged Brooke fan’s good-natured advice to Morgantown High coach Tom Yester was hard to miss Tuesday night.
    MHS was putting the finishing touches on its 74-65 victory against the Bruins in the Region I championship game, at Wheeling Jesuit University, when the fan apparently couldn’t take it anymore.
    He had seen about enough of Mohigans senior Chris Carey.
    “Hey, coach, take No. 33 out,” he screamed. “He’s played enough.”
    Good advice. It just came three quarters too late.
    By then, the 6-foot-4 senior had poured in a game-high 29 points and Marlan Robinson had scored 24 as the Mohigans secured their fourth straight trip to the state tournament and their fifth in the past six years.
    MHS (19-5) defeated the Bruins for the third time this season.
    “Beating anybody three times is a chore,” Yester said. “They had a heck of an end of the year. Anybody who beats Wheeling Park then comes back and gives us this kind of game, I think they’re a pretty good team. Hats off to them. We’re happy to be going back to Charleston.”
    Brooke (12-13) had no answer for the Carey-Robinson combination. The versatile players hurt the Bruins with their outside shots, drives to the basket and assists off penetration.
    Robinson scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half. His baskets seemed to come at just the right time — when Brooke was making a run.
    “Marlan had an outstanding night, particularly in that second half when we needed something,” Yester said. “He was the man. He stepped up, and he wanted to do it.”
    Robinson has confidence in his ability, and he understood what needed to be done to earn the Mohigans another trip to Charleston.
    “I knew I could take my man off the dribble,” Robinson said. “I knew my teammates would spread it out for me so I could get open looks. I hit Chris for a couple of jump shots. I hit Quinn (Law) for a layup. I took some good shots. That’s what coach told me to do.”
    Robinson’s teammates are always on the lookout for Robinson on the court. Because of his inside-outside abilities, Robinson can be a devastating force on the offensive end of the floor.
    He’s a strong defender as well.
    “Marlan is a big key to our team,” Carey said. “He’s a 4 (big forward), but he’s really a 3 (small forward). He creates a lot of mismatches. When it comes down to crunch time, he’ll take his guy to the hole and get a big bucket for us.”
    The Bruins’ record entering the contest may not have been overly impressive, but Brooke did not make it easy for MHS. Brooke led by five points in the first quarter.
    The Mohigans fought back to regain the lead early in the second quarter and pulled out to a 40-31 advantage at intermission.
    Brooke scored seven of the first nine points in the third quarter and trimmed its deficit to two, 42-40, with 4:37 left. Robinson rode to the rescue, scoring six points in a 10-3 spree that gave MHS some breathing room. The Mohigans led by six points going into the final period, and Brooke could get no closer.
“Give credit to Brooke,” Yester said. “They played very hard. They played well. They were patient. They shot the ball beautifully. We had to play up. In the third quarter, we dropped down a little bit and then we finally came back. “They’ve got some athletes. They’ve got a big guy. We were just fortunate enough that Marlan, Chris and all those kids settled us. Just a little bit from everybody. A good, deep bench helped us out a little bit.” Now, it’s on to the Charleston Civic Center. “We’re starting to click,” Robinson said. “We’re starting to peak, and we’re all coming together and playing good basketball. That’s what it’s going to take — and a whole lot of hustle.” Chris Baldauf, a 6-7 center, paced Brooke with 18 points. Gary Wallace scored 17, Jay Lyonett 11 and Brenton Scheetz 10.


Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post Morgantown High’s Chris Carey tries to shoot a layup and draws a foul in Tuesday’s game.

MORGANTOWN HIGH (19-5) Carey 8 11-13 29, Robinson 9 4-5 24, Lindsay 3 0-2 8, Oliver 1 4-4 7, Law 1 2-2 4, Kerns 0 0-0 0, Siriwardane 0-0 0, Dunn 0 0-0 0, Hatfield 1 0-2 2, Lewis 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0-0 0, Holt 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 21-28 74. BROOKE (12-13) Wallace 7 3-3 17, Santangelo 3 0-0 7, Lyonett 3 4-4 11, Scheetz 5 0-0 10, Baldauf 7 4-5 18, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Pugh 0-0 2. Totals 26 11-12 65. Morgantown 20 20 12 22 — 74 Brooke 19 12 15 19 — 65 3-point goals—MHS 7 (Carey 2, Robinson 2, Lindsay 2, Oliver 1), Brooke 2 (Santangelo 1, Lyonett 1).