Road worrier? Not Mohigans’ coach Yester

WEEKS HAVE PASSED. The holidays have come, and gone. Still, no sign of the Mohigans.
The last time MHS played at home was Dec. 22, in an 88-37 win, against East Fairmont. Its next scheduled home game? Exactly one month later, on Jan. 22, against Franklin Marion (Columbus, Ohio).
For the Morgantown High boys’ basketball team, it’s a road trip that won’t be soon forgotten.
The first game of the long road trip concluded with a bang — literally.
Following the Mohigans’ 67-49 defeat at Wheeling Park, the MHS bus got a flat tire and was forced to stop at Dallas Pike to have it repaired.
“That was interesting,” MHS head coach Tom Yester said with a chuckle.
But that is just the beginning of what may be an unprecedented voyage for the Mohigans.
“I don’t think we’ve ever been away from home for three weeks before,” Yester said.
Following their brief stop in Morgantown to face Franklin Marion, the Mohigans will once again take to the road. From Dec. 23 to Feb. 9, the Mohigans will play 14 games, 12 of them away.
Yester explained the scheduling glitch.
“All the teams we usually play just once a year, like Wheeling Park and John Marshall, just happened to be all on the road this year,” he said. “Of course, that means we’ll have them all at home next year, but we may have to tweak the schedule a bit in the future.”
Overall, the Mohigans play only nine of their 22 scheduled games at home this season.
Yester is trying to stay positive about his team’s unusual situation, even if it does mean the Mohigans will be stretched a bit thin at times.
“Fortunately, a lot of our games aren’t very far away,” he said. “East Fairmont, that’s not far away; North Marion, that’s not very far away; and Fairmont Senior, that’s not far away, either. But, John Marshall and Martinsburg coming up back-toback days, that’ll be tough.”
Of course, the long bus rides probably have more effect on the MHS parents and coaches than the players themselves. As I recall, being on the bus or staying at a hotel with teammates was always a good time.
“They like the travel and the road trips,” Yester said of his players. “They think it’s fun.”
As for how the road will affect the Mohigans’ record (1-2), that has yet to be seen.
“I think it’s good to be roadtested, especially with the two favorites in our region already having been established in Wheeling Park and Preston,” Yester said. “We’ve already played both of them to pretty much the same result. We lost. But in those games, we found out what we can and can’t do pretty well and now can make adjustments.”
On the bright side, the road trip won’t last forever. Five of the Mohigans’ last six regularseason games this year will be played at home.
ERIC HANLON is a sports reporter for The Dominion Post. Write to him at ehanlon@dominionpost.com.

ERIC HANLON