The Morgantown High boys’ basketball team can win games in a variety of ways, but Tuesday night, against East Fairmont, the Mohigans put on an offensive clinic against the Bees, winning decisively, 83-63.
MHS (5-2, 4-0 NCAC) had 11 different players score against East Fairmont (7-4, 4-3 NCAC), four of them in double figures.
“That’s the key to success right there,” MHS head coach Tom Yester said of the balanced scoring.
Ryan Parsons led the Mohigans, scoring 21 points, 17 of which came in the first half.
“The first half, they were just leaving me open,” Parsons said. “I guess I was feeling it a little bit.”
Yester said the key to the first half was his team’s ability to get the ball to the open player. That happened to be Parsons, who capitalized on the opportunities and made the open looks.
“He had a real nice first half,” Yester said.
Tyler Anderson scored 11 points for the Mohigans. Forwards Nathan Colombo and Michael Caridi came off the bench and scored 11 points and 10 points, respectively, for MHS.
Colombo and Caridi gave MHS the spark it needed when starting center Sam Runner went down with a sprained right ankle while going up for a block, in the first half. Runner didn’t return to the court in the second half.
MHS jumped out to a 19-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and extended the margin to 46-22 by halftime.
The Mohigans totaled 14 field goals in the first half, made five 3-pointers and shot 3-for-8 from the free-throw line. Parsons made three of the five 3s.
On the defensive side, East Fairmont was able to score only six field goals and one 3-pointer. The Bees struggled at the free-throw line, making just six of 15 shots in the first half.
“We were just focusing on their shooters. They’re not a very big team,” Parsons said. “We were just playing some deny defense on their shooters.”
The Bees outscored the Mohigans 15-13 in the third quarter and 26-24 in the fourth quarter, but it was too little, too late.
East Fairmont’s Andrew Saiko led all scorers in the game with 24 points.
Saiko made two 3-pointers and was 4-for-8 from the free-throw line.
“We made Saiko look like an All-American,” Yester said. “He’s a good player, but he shouldn’t get 24 points against us.”
East Fairmont cut the MHS lead to 59-43 in the fourth quarter, but Colombo answered the call for MHS, netting nine of his 11 points in the final eight minutes.
“He’s a big, strong guy. No one can stop him, I think,” Parsons said.
“When he gets inside, we were just finding him and he can just put everything in.”
MHS entered the game tied with Preston at 3-0 in the NCAC standings, with East Fairmont just behind them, at 4-2.
“We’ve got to win every game in conference. Preston’s going to be tough,” Parsons said.
The Mohigans beat the Bees for the second time this year. The previous meeting was the season-open- er for the Mohigans and they won, 73-60.
Yester said he didn’t know how severe Runner’s sprained ankle was nor how quickly he will be able to recover.
“I’m really hoping he gets back sometime next week,” Yester said.
Runner said he hoped to be able to return to the lineup Thursday, when MHS hosts Fairmont Senior (4-4, 2-1 NCAC).
EAST FAIRMONT (7-4) Cleveland 1 0-4 3, Bartholow 1 0-0 2, Quirk 2 8-11 13, Garcia 0 1-2 1, Morgan 1 0-1 3, Saiko 9 4-8 24, McCutchan 2 1-2 6, Sevier 3 1-2 8, Bower 0 0-2 0, Shuck 1 0-0 2. Totals 20 15-31 63. MORGANTOWN (5-2) Simmons 1 0-0 3, Barnett 1 1-2 2, Jackson 2 0-0 4, Caridi 5 0-0 10, Petitte 1 0-1 2, Wilson 3 0-0 8, Parsons 7 4-5 21, Runner 1 1-2 4, Anderson 4 3-5 11, Price 2 0-0 4, Colombo 5 1-1 11. Totals 32 10-16 83. Morgantown 19 27 13 24 — 83 East Fairmont 10 12 15 26 — 63 3-point goals: Morgantown 7 (Parsons 3, Wilson 2, Simmons, Runner), East Fairmont 7 (Saiko 2, Cleveland, Quirk, Morgan, McCutchan, Sevier).
