MHS 75, UHS 45 2/8/08
Still chipping away
MHS routs UHS, but Mohigans aren’t done yet

BY ERIC HANLON The Dominion Post
The last time the Morgantown High School and University High School basketball teams met, it wasn’t much of a game, as the Mohigans outscored the Hawks by 32 in a 79-47 thrashing. Tuesday night, the two played in the rematch and it was closer. But not by much. Again, the Mohigans would win in convincing fashion, this time by 30 points, 75-45. The win propelled MHS to 15-3 on the season, while it dropped the Hawks to 8-10. The win also keeps the Mohigans perfect in NCAC play and with the help of a Preston loss, they have now clinched the conference title. But, the Mohigans are looking for more than just a conference title.
“It feels good to win here tonight, but we’re trying to chip our way back up to the top [in the state],” MHS senior Jay Fletcher said. “We’re trying to be No. 1.”
As for the Hawks, even with the loss, they will still have one more shot when it counts the most against the Mohigans.
“We’ve played our worst two games of the year against this team,” UHS head coach Bruce Clinton said. “Hopefully we’ll execute better next time.”
That point isn’t lost on the Mohigans either, as they realize that as nice it is to win now, they still have to do it when it really counts.
“It’s nice to beat them again, but it doesn’t mean anything if we can’t beat them the third time around,” senior Anthony Schifano said. However, there was some concern for MHS fans before the game started.
Leading scorer, senior Ben Hewitt, was sidelined with an ankle injury and fellow senior Craig Carey played with a head injury, which created different matchups compared to the first meeting.
Those concerns were reinforced after a back-and-forth first half boasted eight lead changes. The Hawks actually held a lead after the first quarter by a score of 15-13, and by halftime, trailed by only nine.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, that’s when things changed. The Mohigans pulled away quickly behind a 7-0 run to start the third quarter. MHS dominated for the rest of the game, doubling up UHS 42-21 in the second half.
“The first part of the game we were taking some good shots that we were capable of making, but afterwards we came out and started taking stupid shots,” Clinton said. “That was an ugly second half.”
As ugly as the second was for UHS, it was that much better for the MHS shooters. The Mohigans were 27-of-48 from the floor and a terrific 9-of-17 from 3-point range. Not to mention, all five starters for MHS scored in double digits.
“They were just falling tonight,” Schifano said. “We’ve been cold lately so we’ve been taking a lot of shots in practice and they had to fall sometime.”
Schifano led the Mohigans with 14 points and four 3-pointers, while seniors Carey and Fletcher each scored 13 points.
Senior Zach Cooke also played a big role, recording his first doubledouble of the year, scoring 12 points and pulling down 10 rebounds.
Junior Tyler Anderson also had a big night scoring 10 in place of a hobbled Hewitt.
“Tyler brings a lot of power to the game,” Schifano said. “He always helps us out a lot.”
There was never really any doubt that the promotion to starter for Anderson would be anything but a success.
“Tyler plays normally as a nonstarting starter,” MHS head coach Tom Yester said. “We normally play an eight-man rotation, so this was nothing new to him. He really works for balls and he doesn’t really play like a center. He can run.”
Both teams return to action Wednesday to play home games. MHS will play host to Elkins, and UHS will play John Marshall.

Todd Flint/The Dominion Post Morgantown’s Zach Cooke (center) tries to pass out of a double team by University’s Ryan Watts (23) and Garrett Rowan (5) during Friday night boys’ basketball action. Cooke scored 12 points with 10 rebounds in the Mohigans’ 75-45 victory over their city rival.