Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post University High’s Jedd Gyorko flies head-first to the floor after jumping over Morgantown High’s Jay Fletcher as UHS’s Robbie Johnson (1) watches. UHS beat the Mohigans Thursday night, 86-74.
How sweep it is for UHS
Hawks beat rival Mohigans, 86-74
BY ERIC HERTER The Dominion Post
What a difference home cooking makes.
After barely beating Morgantown, 58-52, in overtime at Morgantown High School earlier this season, it was University rolling to an 86-74 win over the Mohigans on Thursday night in boy’s basketball action.
“It always helps when you play on your home floor,” UHS head coach Bruce Clinton said. “You’ve got to protect your home court and tonight we came out early and played really well and that obviously helped.”
The Hawks (16-1) pushed their way to a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter and looked to be on their way to blowing out the Mohigans (10-6) but the pesky MHS team was able to force its way back into the ball game.
On two straight trips down the floor, J.T. Lewis slashed to the basket for easy lay-ups and then Cameron Taylor converted a threepoint-play as the Mohigans cut the UHS lead to just 31-28 on a bucket by Elliott Law.
“J.T. did some nice things going to the basket and we weren’t intimidated early on,” Yester said. “We played hard and had a chance to stay in the game at that point, but they are just such a good team.”
Clinton then called a timeout.
“We were just going too fast,” Clinton said. “We needed to work in our sets and get some stops on the defensive end and let that work to our advantage.”
The plan worked as the Hawks responded with an 11-0 run to take the game over for good.
University pushed its lead to 20 points in the third quarter as Ben Hewitt, who scored a career-high 27 points, stepped in front of a pass and went the distance for a lay-up.
Even a 10-2 run by the Mohigans midway through the third quarter barely put a dent in the UHS lead as the Hawks were able to force the Mohigans into bad passes much of the night and center Grand Meadows was a presence on the inside as he finished with four blocks, seven rebounds and eight points.
“Grant really started out strong for us tonight,” Clinton said. “I think he blocked two of their first shots and that really got us going. It was his night tonight.”
Morgantown did manage to hit some 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep things close. With 3:53 left in the final quarter, the Mohigans trailed by just 10 points and had the ball but failed to cut the UHS lead and instead Lewis picked up his fifth foul.
“We hung around and showed a little guts at the end there,” Yester said. “This could have been a blowout.”
Taylor Dunn finished with 16 points to lead the Mohigans while Lewis had 14 and Craig Carey added 13. Jedd Gyorko and Ryan Nehlen each scored 19 for the Hawks.
UHS now owns two wins over the Hawks in the regular season but the big game awaits both teams in sectionals.
“People can say what they want about this game not meaning anything,” Clinton said. “It still means something. It still means something to this team. Any time you play a game it means something and any time you play a game — you want to win.”
UHS returns to action on Tuesday when it travels to John Marshall. Morgantown hosts Martinsburg on Saturday.
Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post University High’s Jedd Gyorko flies head-first to the floor after jumping over Morgantown High’s Jay Fletcher as UHS’s Robbie Johnson (1) watches. UHS beat the Mohigans Thursday night, 86-74.