Mohigans shut down Bulldogs
Price scores 21 to pace blowout win
BY WESLEY MCKINNEY
For The Dominion Post
With both the Martinsburg Bulldogs and Morgantown Mohigans being ranked in the top 10 among Class AAA boys’ basketball teams entering Saturday night’s matchup, it was the most anticipated game on the MHS schedule so far.
However, the game turned into a 55-29 rout for the No. 6 Mohigans. Taylor Price led a strong Morgantown defensive effort that held No. 11 Martinsburg to eight first-half points.
“We didn’t shoot well early on,” Morgantown coach Tom Yester said. “We were getting the ball inside to [Nathan] Adrian, Price and [Ben] Blemings.
“The shots just weren’t falling for us in the first quarter,” though the Mohigans came away with a 15-6 lead.
Eventually the Mohigans’ offense woke up — Price outscored the Bulldogs by himself in the first half, with 13 points and five rebounds, and MHS held a 26-8 lead at intermission.
Price finished the game with 21 points and seven rebounds.
In the second quarter, Morgantown held Martinsburg scoreless for nearly seven minutes.
“Our philosophy was to create turnovers, get out and run and get easy layups,” Price said.
During the scoreless stretch for the Bulldogs, Morgantown used a manto-man defense to confuse the young Martinsburg team, which started three sophomores.
“We were able to use our experience,” Price said. “We’ve been through adversity before.”
At the 5:45 mark in the third quarter, Price put an exclamation mark on the blowout with a dunk in transition.
Yester thought that playing South Charleston earlier in the season was to the Mohigans’ advantage.
“We hadn’t seen that kind of speed since we played South Charleston and I thought we did a pretty good job of keeping Martinsburg in front of us,” Yester said. “I have never seen a Martinsburg team go that cold shooting the ball.”
Other strong performances from the Mohigans came from Adrian, with six points and five rebounds, and Blemings, who came off the bench for 10 points. Senior guard Alex Watson contributed nine points.
Morgantown will next play Tuesday, hosting East Fairmont.
M MO OR RG GA AN NT TO OW WN N ((66--11))
Berryhill 0 2-2 2, Lusk 0 1-2 1, Colasante 0 2-3 2, Watson 4 0-0 9, Drake 2 0-0 4, Adrian 3 0-0 6, Blemings 2 6-6 10, Price 9 3-5 21. Totals 20 14-18 55.
M MA AR RT TIIN NS SB BU UR RG G ((55--33))
Lewis 1 0-0 2, Clerius 3 0-2 5, Gillmore 1 0-0 2, Long 1 0-0 2, Ashenfelter 2 0-2 4, Grantham 3 2-2 8. Totals 11 2-6 29. M Ma arrttiin nssb bu urrg g 66 22 1100 1111 — — 2299 M Mo orrg ga an ntto ow wn n 1155 1111 1155 1144 — — 5555
3-point goals: Morgantown 1 (Watson), Martinsburg 1 (Clerius).

Todd Flint/For The Dominion Post
Morgantown’s Alex Watson (right) looks to pass around Martinsburg’s Jordan Robinson.