12/6/08

Mohigans and Beckley: A Draw
A battle of two state powers was on the Rowdy Center court on Friday evening and it ended in a virtual draw. Both teams won 3 quarters, but it was the Mohigan defense that showed how good this MHS team is going to be. After four quarters Morgantown held a 45-41 lead. During the last two quarters, however the scoring increased as Beckley ended with a two point edge in overall scoring by a score of 82-80. “In a scrimmage neither team is interested in the score, because both teams were using combinations of players that will most likely never be used in a close game,” said Assistant coach Jeff Hoffman. “The only thing that stuck out for me was that we are an extremely good defensive team, with a lot of depth. We will find out more about ourselves next week when we play George Washington.” MHS will travel to Charleston next Saturday to take on state title contender George Washington on Saturday at noon.
Seniors Tyler Anderson and Michael Caridi led the offensive statistics. Tyler had 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, while Mike had 10 points. Sam Runner and Jordan Barnett had 8 and 7 points while Nathan Columbo led the team with 10 rebounds. Cody Petitte had 5 assists and finished the evening at point guard as Arius Jackson suffered muscle spasms in his back. Newcomer Salome Dany showed his potential with several acrobatic plays and Taylor Simmons had a flurry of threes near the end of the 5th quarter.
In the JV scrimmage, MHS won two of the three quarters as Evn Berryhill had 8 points and 6 assists. Michael Keffer, Taylor Price and Ben Blemings each had 6 points Morgantown opens their season on Dec. 16 at Preston. 

12/5/08

DEFENDING STATE CHAMPS VISIT ROWDY CENTER FRIDAY EVENING

 The defending state champion, Beckley Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles, visit Morgantown High on Friday night. The scrimmage will begin at 6:00 and include the JV and Varsity.

 Last season, Beckley got hot at the end of the year and rolled to the state championship with impressive wins which included a victory over South Charleston in the state championship. Their roster includes Michael Fortune, Ryan Powers, Isaah Walton and super sophomore Joseph Anthony. “Beckley will certainly be a favorite again this year, and are loaded as usual,” Said Assistant coach Jeff Hoffman. “It will be a real challenge to stay with them.”

 Morgantown High, just off a semifinal loss to South Charleston and a 22-4 record will have to replace 7 seniors from last year’s team. The Mohigans return one starter, Tyler Anderson, who may or may not be ready for the scrimmage as he just finished football and will have only 4 practices before Friday. Cody Petitte returns after seeing significant playing time last year, but none of the other seniors saw much playing time.

 “We have a lot of depth and Coach Yester wants to run and press more this year,” said Hoffman. “We will look to score off our defense.”

 Morgantown will travel to state power George Washington the next Saturday for a scrimmage. All scrimmages are free and open to the public. Morgantown will begin their season at Region 1 power Preston on Tuesday Dec. 16.