Hot Mohigans blow out Bucs

No let-up for MHS after 2 titanic wins

BY JOEL DANOY The Dominion Post

Winning breeds more winning. Extending their victory streak to seven games, the Morgantown boys’ basketball team started fast and rolled to a 73-29 victory against the visiting Buckhannon-Upshur Buccaneers on Wednesday.
Jordan Barnett had a gamehigh 13 points for the Mohigans, while Ryan Parsons added 12, Luke Meador 11 and Sam Runner 10.
Draining the first four field goals of the game, including two 3-pointers, the Mohigans jumped to 10-0 lead 2:24 into the game and never looked back.
“I wanted to do three things tonight,” Morgantown head coach Tom Yester said. “First, I wanted to get the ball in the post, I wanted to out rebound them and I wanted to play with some intensity.
“I thought we did some good things — I liked our defensive intensity and the way we shared the ball on offense. We’ve still got some work to do but I think this team has the right concept for winning.”
The Mohigans were coming off huge back-to-back victories. They won at the buzzer against Franklin-Marion (Columbus, Ohio) on Friday, then knocked off undefeated Fairmont Senior, on Saturday.
With success comes responsibility, and for Morgantown, it’s all about keeping the victories in perspective and not getting caught looking too far ahead.
“Last week, we had some big wins and it really gave us some confidence. My job and part of the seniors’ job is not let the guys get complacent and come out with a lot of intensity,” Parsons said. “We’re just trying to get that respect. I think we got a little last week but now we have to keep winning and keep doing it consistently.”
The Mohigans’ (8-2) relentless pressure on defense created 18 steals and forced the Bucs (0-11) into 28 turnovers, including 15 in the first half. More importantly, the Mohigans played hard and stayed out of foul trouble, committing only five during the game.
“Well, ballhandling is one of their weaknesses, so what do you do when they can’t handle it? You trap the ball,” Yester said of the Bucs. “I thought we did a good job on the trap because it was our first night really working on that specific trap in competition. Just another weapon, we hope.”
Morgantown’s shooters were red hot from all over the floor. With his team shooting 28-for-51 (55 percent), including 9-for-17 (53 percent) from 3-point range, Yester was pleased with his players’ shot selection and execution. Morgantown had 10 turnovers to 15 assists.
“I liked our shots tonight. We shared the ball well and we’ve got some guys that can shoot it,” Yester said. “We shot with some confidence. We did a lot of good things — spread the floor on the fast break, reversed the ball well — but we could have finished around the bucket better. But, hey, we have things to work on. Let’s not get too excited. They [Bucs] were a little undermanned.”
The Mohigans are on the road against University High at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Morgantown defeated B-U, 84-21, in the JV game. Nathan Adrian scored a game-high 24 points while Alex Watson and Connor Louden each added 18 and 16, respectively.
BUCKHANNON-UPSHUR (0-11)
Barnette 1 0-0 2, Kirwin 0 0-0 0, White 1 0-0 2, Bennett 7 2-2 17, Workman 2 2-4 6, Westfall 1 0-0 2, McGrew 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 4-6 29.
MORGANTOWN (8-2)
Berryhill 2 0-0 5, Lusk 1 0-0 3, Meador 4 1-1 11, Parsons 5 0-0 12, Barnett 5 0-0 13, Adrian 2 2-2 6, Drake 0 0-0 0, Loudin 0 1-2 1, Keffer 1 2-2 3, Blemings 1 0-0 2, Runner 5 0-1 10, Colombo 1 2-2 4, Watson 1 1-1 3. Totals 28 9-11 73.
Morgantown High 24 20 9 20 — 73 Buckhannon-Upshur 8 9 4 8 — 29
3-point goals: B-U 1 (Bennett), Morgantown 9 (Barnette 3, Meador 2, Parsons 2, Lusk, Berryhill).

Bob Gay/The Dominion Post Morgantown’s Sam Runner splits the B-U defense.