MHS misses two starters but not a beat in beating B-U
BY JUSTIN JACKSON The Dominion Post
JUSTIN JACKSON is a sports reporter for The Dominion Post. He can be reached at sports@dominionpost.com
Tom Yester conducted his first conference call Wednesday night. At one end were Yester and his third-ranked Morgantown High boys’ basketball team. At the other end was senior forward Marlan Robinson, who is still in Ruby Memorial Hospital recovering from a car accident on Sunday.
“He told the guys, ‘I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Just go out and play hard,’” Yester said.
And that’s exactly what the Mohigans did in an 86-46 romp against Buckhannon-Upshur.
Junior forward Elliott Law, who was a passenger in car during the accident, was seated on the bench in team warm-ups.
“It was weird not having them out there,” said MHS guard Jeff Lindsay, who scored 14 points and added nine assists. “Especially not seeing Marlan out there. We’ve been playing together since middle school. We’ve been teammates for a long time.
“I went to the hospital before the game and talked with him. We all know he wanted to be out there with us, so we wanted to play well for him.”
The Mohigans (11-1) were running and gunning from the start, setting a pace for nearly two quarters to score 100 points.
“I think our guys were a little motivated tonight to keep up their image,” Yester said. “I thought the key for us tonight was we shared the ball very well and we ran the floor well. That’s what this team has done well all season and it continued tonight.”
The Mohigans weren’t too shabby on defense, either, forcing 22 turnovers, many of which turned into easy layups at the other end.
“Everybody on our team in the offseason played a lot of basketball and we worked hard on keeping everybody involved,” Linsay said. “We have guys who can step in and I think that’s what happened tonight. We had guys stepping in and making plays, but nobody makes baskets the way Marlan does.”
Jamie Karraker, getting his first start of the season, had a great game with 18 points and John Hatfield could not be stopped in the first half, scoring all 14 of his points.
“We still got the same kind of looks we wanted and we still got three guys in double figures and that’s what we kind of shoot for in every game,” Yester said. “Hatfield and Lindsay played well early and Jamie was on fire.”
Yester said there was no timetable for the return of his two starters. The Mohigans travel to crosstown rival and seventh-ranked University High on Friday.
“Elliott wants to play tomorrow,” Yester said. “It all depends on what the doctors say and when they are cleared. I would tend to guess Elliott could be back in a week. It’s going to be a while for Marlan.”
Until then, Lindsay said, the Mohigans will carry on.
“I think everybody is comfortable with each other no matter who is in there,” he said. “We’ll just keep working hard and hope everybody gets well and comes back soon.”
Buckhannon-Upshur (2-7) was led by Luke Hyre, who connected on seven 3-pointers for 21 points. Ryan Godwin added 14 points.
