Mohigans take over in 2nd half
Brooke falls short of its upset bid of No. 6 Morgantown
BY ERIC HANLON The Dominion Post

To pull off a big upset, a team has to play solid ball for 60 minutes, or in the case of high school basketball, 32 minutes.
Apparently, someone forgot to pass that memo along to the Brooke High School boys’ basketball team, which saw an upset bid over the sixth-ranked Mohigans fall apart in the second half Friday night.
Actually, that may not be a fair statement about the Bruins (2-17). It was more like Morgantown (17-3) took over in the second half to avoid the upset, winning easily, 83-50.
As a matter of fact, the game was relatively exciting in the first half, as there were six different lead changes, ending with MHS ahead 32-23.
“We looked just like the JV did today. Their game was just like this earlier and they’re 17-0,” MHS head coach Tom Yester said.
Not to mention the Mohigans were out-rebounded 18-12 in the half, while shooting only nine-of-24 (37 percent) from the floor.
But what made things interesting was that six of those field goals were 3-pointers.
From there, things would get ugly for the Bruins, who were outscored, 31-11, in the third. From the moment the MHS players reemerged from halftime, the game was over.
Actually, the Bruins’ demise started back in the second quarter, as the Mohigans hit back-toback 3-pointers to end the half. The Mohigans scored 15 straight to start the third, rattling off a 21-0 run between the two quarters.
“Those shots at the end of the first set the tempo for us,” Yester said. “Then we came out, spread the floor and pretty much took them out of it. And the good thing about that is that once we smelled blood in the water, we took advantage.”
In the third quarter, MHS looked like a different team. Contrast that to the first half, when they turned the ball over eight times. The Mohigans didn’t give the ball up once in the third quarter, while connecting on 13-of-19 (68 percent) shots from the floor.
Leading the charge for the Mohigans were seniors Anthony Schifano and Craig Carey, who combined for 22 points in the third.
Schifano finished with 20 while Carey scored 19.
“When they get hot, what this team of capable of. Well, it’s tough to beat us when they come to play,” Yester said.
The MHS players were on the same page as their coach at halftime and were not concerned.
“It was just a matter of time until we started hitting some shots,” Carey said. “We have some pretty good shooters and we were getting open shots all game. It was just a matter of hitting them.”
Others had a more technical idea of why the Mohigans performed so much better in the second half.
“We were set up to beat the zone better in the second half,” Schifano said. “We defensively needed to step things up and force them to dribble more instead of just catching it and shooting.”
The win takes the Mohigans into the last week of the regular season, as they will travel to Buckhannon-Upshur before hosting Fairmont Senior.
From there, the Mohigans will look to the first round of the playoffs, when they will face a struggling University team.
But don’t think the Mohigans will be looking past the Hawks just because of their struggles.
“Our last game is next Friday and then we get University,” Schifano said. “I’m always worried about them. Just because we beat them twice, it doesn’t mean anything. Last year, they beat us twice and then we beat them in sectionals, so anything can happen.”

Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post
Morgantown’s Cody Petitte (21) charges into Brooke’s Anthony Santangelo during the second half of Friday’s game.