MHS picks up fourth straight
BY TODD MURRAY The Dominion Post
Morgantown High center Cameron Taylor experienced a wide range of emotions in Thursday night’s game against North Central Athletic Conference rival Fairmont Senior.
His evening began with two quick fouls and a trip to the bench in the first quarter. The night ended with Taylor joining a teammate in signing autographs for kids on the court after the Mohigans’ 66-54 victory at the MHS gymnasium.
In between the fouls and the signatures, the 6-foot-8 Taylor enjoyed his finest performance of the season, scoring 14 points, grabbing four rebounds and blocking two shots in MHS’s fourth straight victory.
Taylor sank 5-of-8 shots from the field and converted 4-of-6 free throws. His final basket came on a nifty reverse layup extending MHS’s lead to 12 points early in the fourth quarter.
“I haven’t really had a breakout game this season,” said Taylor, whose team improved to 7-4 overall, 5-1 in the NCAC. “It’s good to get my groove, and hopefully I’ll keep this up all season.”
MHS coach Tom Yester doesn’t expect Taylor to score 20 points a game, but he does want him to compete aggressively on both ends of the floor, contributing in the defensive, rebounding and shot blocking departments.
“I want three blocked shots,” Yester said in ticking off his list of objectives for Taylor. “I want him to shoot 50 percent from the field. I want him to draw some fouls and put in some put-backs.
“Guess what? That’s what he did tonight. He has to come like that every night. He comes like that, we’re respectable.”
Taylor spent most of the game battling for position on the offensive and defensive ends with Fairmont Senior center Lex Janes. On one memorable play, Taylor and the 6-3 Janes were both whistled for a foul. That was Taylor’s second foul.
“We were both getting into it and wanting position,” Taylor said. “They might have called it a little bit too tight sometimes, but it was OK. I thought I might pick up foul trouble early. I hoped I wouldn’t. I got back in the game and scored a couple of easy ones.”
Yester couldn’t have been more pleased with his center.
“That’s what we’ve been waiting for right there,” he said. “He did OK against Elkins, did OK against John Marshall and dropped a little bit the other night and didn’t play as well against East [Fairmont]. Tonight, he was back where we wanted him.”
Taylor had plenty of help against the Polar Bears. J.T. Lewis led the Mohigans with 17 points, and Taylor Dunn finished with 11. MHS received strong play from a number of its reserves.
Jay Fletcher registered eight points, and Craig Carey added seven as the Mohigans won for the sixth time in seven games.
Zac McCullough paced Fairmont Senior [5-6, 3-4] with a game-high 20 points. Nathan Angeline scored 12 points, and Matt Pellillo tallied 11.
The Mohigans return to action Tuesday at Buckhannon-Upshur before coming back home to entertain rival University High on Thursday night.
“We’re starting to come around as a team,” Taylor said. “I think we’ll be something special. We’re starting to jell as a team.”

Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post
Morgantown’s J.T. Lewis flies towards the hoop between Fairmont Senior’s James Haldeman [left] and Lex Janes during Thursday’s game.