John Marshall Ousted by Morgantown
Long field-goal drought does in Monarchs

By MIKE HUGHES
POSTED: March 5, 2008
FAIRMONT — John Marshall could do more than smell an upset brewing in its regional finale against state-ranked Morgantown. The Monarchs could taste it.

After shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half, JM held a 29-25 lead at the break. Then despite a cold streak to end the third quarter, the Monarchs were still tied, 36-36, against a team that they lost to by 20 earlier this season at Moundsville.

Coach Bill Storm couldn’t have foreseen what continued to transpire late in the second half, however, as the Monarchs went nearly 11 minutes without a field goal in falling 56-44 to the Mohigans (21-3) in their Class AAA Region One title tilt at Joe Retton Arena.

‘‘We’ve done that a lot this year and I really don’t have an answer for it,’’ Storm said after watching his team fail to hit a field goal between the 4:28 mark of the third quarter and 1:32 of the fourth.

‘‘We ran the same offense and protected the ball, but the shots weren’t falling.’’

The big momentum shift came at the sounding of the third-quarter buzzer.

Trailing by seven at 36-29, Morgantown set off on a 7-0 run to close the period, capped by a Taylor Dunn jumper as time expired that tied the score at 36-all.

Dunn appeared to forcibly shove off a JM defender to clear enough space for the shot, and the resulting no-call sent the John Marshall fans into an uproar.

Storm was far from thrilled with that final play of the period, but admitted that his team had more than enough opportunities for that one play to be considered the only deciding factor in the final outcome.

For Morgantown, it was a matter of regrouping at the intermission after getting outworked and outhustled in the first half.

The Mohigans appeared to have settled the game down midway through the second quarter when their 7-0 run turned a 15-10 deficit to a two-point advantage.

The two teams traded baskets during the next few possessions when JM finally answered, as a pair of Andrew Montes’ 3-pointers sparked a 9-0 run.

‘‘Good teams will get on a run and then turn around and prevent the other team from going on one,’’ Morgantown coach Tom Yester said. ‘‘In the first half, we weren’t able to do that.

‘‘John Marshall came in well prepared.’’

It was during the 7-0 run to end the third quarter where Yester could see his team finally starting to take control.

Jeremy Hays hit the back end of a two-shot foul to start the fourth quarter, but Morgantown answered when Zach Cooke cashed in a 3-pointer from the corner for a 39-37 Mohigans lead with 7:30 remaining.

It was the first time Morgantown was on top since the 2:55 mark of the second quarter, but this time, the Mohigans held it.

Jay Fletcher followed with a driving runner down the middle. JM’s Justin Eikleberry followed with a free-throw, but the Mohigans rattled off the next six points for a 47-38 lead.

Travis Whitfield hit a pair of free throws to trim the deficit to seven, but John Marshall was attempting match Morgantown’s scoring barrage with free throws, which wasn’t getting it done.

‘‘John Marshall came to play and we got off to a rocky start early,’’ Yester said. ‘‘But I told the kids at halftime that basketball is a game of halves and we’d be OK.’’

Cooke took Yester’s halftime talk to heart and came out on fire, scoring eight of his 15 points in the third quarter and five more in the fourth.

‘‘Zach is our shooter and that’s what he needs to do and I told him that if he didn’t start shooting, that I was going to sit him,’’ said Yester after Cooke attempted just two shots in the first half. ‘‘He really stepped it up, as did Fletcher and Dunn.’’

Dunn supplied 12 points off the bench, with all but two coming in the final 8 minutes.

The Monarchs were led by 10 points apiece from Eikleberry and Montes, with Kenny Shepherd adding nine points to go with his 10 rebounds and five blocks.

‘‘I’m disappointed for these kids and our coaches because this has been our goal since last March, to get down state,’’ Storm said. ‘‘We finished second in the OVAC and second in the (region) and second place isn’t good enough any more.

‘‘But we played hard and that was a good team we got beat by (Tuesday).’’Trailing by seven at 36-29, Morgantown set off on a 7-0 run to close the period, capped by a Taylor Dunn jumper as time expired that tied the score at 36-all.

Dunn appeared to forcibly shove off a JM defender to clear enough space for the shot, and the resulting no-call sent the John Marshall fans into an uproar.

Storm was far from thrilled with that final play of the period, but admitted that his team had more than enough opportunities for that one play to be considered the only deciding factor in the final outcome.

For Morgantown, it was a matter of regrouping at the intermission after getting outworked and outhustled in the first half.

The Mohigans appeared to have settled the game down midway through the second quarter when their 7-0 run turned a 15-10 deficit to a two-point advantage.

The two teams traded baskets during the next few possessions when JM finally answered, as a pair of Andrew Montes’ 3-pointers sparked a 9-0 run.

‘‘Good teams will get on a run and then turn around and prevent the other team from going on one,’’ Morgantown coach Tom Yester said. ‘‘In the first half, we weren’t able to do that.

‘‘John Marshall came in well prepared.’’

It was during the 7-0 run to end the third quarter where Yester could see his team finally starting to take control.

Jeremy Hays hit the back end of a two-shot foul to start the fourth quarter, but Morgantown answered when Zach Cooke cashed in a 3-pointer from the corner for a 39-37 Mohigans lead with 7:30 remaining.

It was the first time Morgantown was on top since the 2:55 mark of the second quarter, but this time, the Mohigans held it.

Jay Fletcher followed with a driving runner down the middle. JM’s Justin Eikleberry followed with a free-throw, but the Mohigans rattled off the next six points for a 47-38 lead.

Travis Whitfield hit a pair of free throws to trim the deficit to seven, but John Marshall was attempting match Morgantown’s scoring barrage with free throws, which wasn’t getting it done.

‘‘John Marshall came to play and we got off to a rocky start early,’’ Yester said. ‘‘But I told the kids at halftime that basketball is a game of halves and we’d be OK.’’

Cooke took Yester’s halftime talk to heart and came out on fire, scoring eight of his 15 points in the third quarter and five more in the fourth.

‘‘Zach is our shooter and that’s what he needs to do and I told him that if he didn’t start shooting, that I was going to sit him,’’ said Yester after Cooke attempted just two shots in the first half. ‘‘He really stepped it up, as did Fletcher and Dunn.’’

Dunn supplied 12 points off the bench, with all but two coming in the final 8 minutes.

The Monarchs were led by 10 points apiece from Eikleberry and Montes, with Kenny Shepherd adding nine points to go with his 10 rebounds and five blocks.

‘‘I’m disappointed for these kids and our coaches because this has been our goal since last March, to get down state,’’ Storm said. ‘‘We finished second in the OVAC and second in the (region) and second place isn’t good enough any more.

‘‘But we played hard and that was a good team we got beat by (Tuesday).’’