MORGANTOWN 86 EAST FAIRMONT 63

MHS turns slow to GO

Robinson helps Mohigans overcome sloppy start

BY RYAN MCNEIL The Dominion Post
    A rash of first-half turnovers and a pesky East Fairmont team couldn’t stop No. 4 Morgantown High from staying undefeated.
    The Mohigans (3-0) shook off a slow start Wednesday to defeat East Fairmont, 86-63, at the Morgantown High gym.
    MHS senior Marlan Robinson led all players with 23 points and eight rebounds. Jeff Lindsay added 13 points and J.T. Lewis had 10 points for the Mohigans.
    Brandon Cleveland drained a half-court shot and East Fairmont trailed just 23-22 after the first quarter. Eleven first-half turnovers by Morgantown let the Bees continue to keep the score close. The Mohigans led just 42-33 at halftime.
    “That was a pretty sloppy first half,” MHS head coach Tom Yester said. “We had a lot of silly turnovers. It seemed like our turnovers led to more turnovers and we had three or four at the same time.”
    Robinson kept Morgantown in the lead with his offensive versatility. The 6-foot-5 forward scored on several tough shots in the paint.
    In the second half, Robinson stepped back and hit three 3-pointers against the East Fairmont defense.
    “We were able to get our points from Marlan,” Yester said. “He is strong, quick, and has nice hands.”
    Carter DeVault led EFHS with 14 points. Adam Leonard added 13 points and Derek Sevier had 11 points and five rebounds for the Bees.
“We gave up too many points tonight,” Yester said. “But I was pleased with how we turned it around in the second half. We ran the ball very well tonight.”
Eleven players scored for the Mohigans. Jamie Karraker had two 3-point field goals off the bench. Sophomore Jay Fletcher, who had 12 points in the junior varsity team’s 64-30 victory against EFHS, added five points for MHS.
“So far, our bench has shot the ball very well this year,” Yester said. “That is nice to see. We had nice distribution and almost everyone scored.”
    MHS had eight 3-pointers to East Fairmont’s five. Yester said his team’s ability to shoot the outside shot gives it an advantage on opponents.
    “We have outscored every team we have played at the 3-point line,” Yester said. “That always helps.”
    The Mohigans are off until the Parkersburg South Tournament, which starts Dec. 29. MHS’s first game will be against Scioto, at 6 p.m.
    Yester said Scioto, located in Dublin, Ohio, features a player who is 6-7 and 270 pounds.
    “We have a big tournament coming up,” Yester said. “It will be tough playing against a kid with that size. We will have to work on some things to try and move him away from the basket and double [team] him. The kids should be able to learn from that.”
RYAN MCNEIL is a sports reporter for The Dominion Post. He can be reached at sports@dominionpost.com 
Bob Gay/The Dominion Post Morgantown High’s EAST FAIRMONT Sevier 5 1-2 11, DeVault 6 1-2 14, Starcher 0 2-2 2, Janicky 1 2-2 4, Satterfield 1 0-0 2, Cleveland 4 0-0 9, Boone 2 0-0 4, Leonard 4 3-4 13, Blankenship 1 0-0 2, Harbert 1 0-0 3. Totals 25 9-12 63. MORGANTOWN (3-0, 2-0 NCAC) Robinson 8 4-5 23, Lindsay 6 1-1 14, Hatfield 3 0-0 6, Law 3 2-4 8, Holt 1 0-0 2, Pearson 1 1-2 4, Ramsey 2 0-0 4, Karraker 2 0-0 6, Lewis 5 0-0 10, Taylor 1 2-4 4, Fletcher 2 0-0 5. Totals 34 10-16 86. East Fairmont High 22 10 12 18 — 63 Morgantown High 23 19 21 23 — 86 3-pointgoals—East Fairmont 5 (Leonard 2, DeVault 1, Cleveland 1, Harbert 1), Morgantown 8 (Robinson 3, Karraker 2, Lindsay 1, Pearson 1, Fletcher 1).

Nathan Pearson powers past East Fairmont’s Brandon Cleveland, in Wednesday’s game.