Parkersburg South 71 Morgantown 60
PARKERSBURG — The Patriots poured in nine 3-pointers, ran up a 44-22 halftime lead and held off the Mohigans.
“Their second quarter, they couldn’t miss,” said MHS coach Tom Yester, whose team was outscored, 27-12, in the period. “We were down two starters, Nick Colasante and Austin Agnew (both ill), I hope that made some difference. We’ve had illness, but no excuses, we didn’t execute and we didn’t defend well enough.”
Nathan Adrian had 24 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and three assists for MHS. Connor Loudin added 10 points. The Mohigans play host to Brooke on Monday.
Doug Dennis led the Patriots with 18 points.
MORGANTOWN (14-5)
Antonini 0 0-0 0, Johnson 3 2-2 8, Fleming 0 0 0 0, Marshall 2 2-3 6, Adrian 9 4-7 24, Loudin 2 6-6 10, Fullmer 3 0-0 6, Allen 0 0-0 0, Leftridge 1 4-4 6. Totals 20 18-24 60.
PARKERSBURG SOUTH (13-7)
Bolen 0 0-2 0, Monroe 4 0-0 10, Dennis 7 0-0 18, Goldsberry 2 3-4 7, Holland 2 0-0 5, Price 2 0-0 5, Mitchem 7 2-2 16, Cox 4 0-2 10. Totals 28 6-10 71. Morgantown High 10 12 16 22 — 60 Parkersburg South 17 27 13 14 — 71
3-point goals: MHS 2 (Adrian 2), PSHS 9 (Dennis 4, Monroe 2, Holland, Price, Cox).

Freshmen boys’ basketball MHS freshmen 68, Elkins 40: Alex Dale paced the Mohigans (14-2) with 18 points, while Bailey Kane added 17. The Tigers were lead by Matt Wallace, who scored 17 points.

MORGANTOWN 60 WHEELING PARK 44
Mohigans’ boys pop Patriots 2/7/12
Adrian tallies 22 in showdown win

BY RICK THORP
For The Dominion Post

WHEELING — Morgantown High boys’ basketball coach Tom Yester found plenty to crow about on his stat sheets after Tuesday’s 60-44 victory, against Wheeling Park.
“I’m just thrilled,” he said in the visitors’ locker room. “You don’t win too many games here.”
Meanwhile, Patriots coach Michael Jebbia quietly stood outside his office, looking down at his stat sheets to see if there was anything good on them.
“Not a whole lot,” he said of a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. “We were outplayed 100 percent, out-hustled and out-coached.”
The game had all the makings of a thriller. Both teams came in state-ranked — Morgantown No. 2 in West Virginia Class AAA and Park No. 7 — and the last time the rivals played (Dec. 22), the Mohigans claimed a 67-56 victory on their home court.
But thanks to a 21-4 run that stretched over two quarters, the contest was all Morgantown. The Mohigans led by 22 in the second half.
“They’re as athletic as anyone in the state and their ‘Triple B’s’ (Errin Baynes, Vondel Bell and Boo Lathon) are quite a combo,” Yester said of the Patriots. “I thought our zone bothered them and we rebounded pretty well.
“The pressure might have been on us a little more psychologically, though I didn’t look at it that way. It was just another game we had to play.”
“It seemed like we were ready to play, but then things started to go in their favor,” Jebbia said. “We’re so fragile mentally when things don’t go our way and, hopefully, that can change.”
Wheeling Park (11-5) gets a rematch in Morgantown against the Mohigans next week, in the semifinals of the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference tournament’s 5A division.
Morgantown (13-3) held an 18-15 lead early in the second quarter before the Mohigans upped the advantage to seven on buckets by Christian Allen and Nick Colasante.
After a Lathon lay-in trimmed the lead to 22-17, Morgantown scored 11 unanswered points, including five by Nathan Adrian (22 points).
The final four points of the spurt — fast-break layups by Austin Agnew and Mark Johnson (11 points) — came at the start of the second half.
“They beat us to a lot of loose balls,” Jebbia said. “I thought one of the big things coming out of halftime was they scored some easy baskets.”
With Morgantown leading, 39-19, Lathon scored seven straight points to cut the deficit to 13. But Morgantown scored nine of the next 11 points to take control for good.
Lathon finished with a team-high 15 points, but no one else reached double figures. Baynes, returning from a knee injury, and Bell were held to two points each.
“That was a result of a bit of good fortune and some pretty good play,” Yester said. “We were trying to be smart and make who we wanted to shoot the ball shoot it where we wanted them to and get the rebounds. For the most part we did that.”
The Patriots struggled in almost every phase of the game.
“There are two things we usually do well,” Jebbia said. “We usually shoot free throws well and (Tuesday) we were 7 of 22. And we only average 11 turnovers per game and (Tuesday) we had 19.
“They had 19, too. But the bottom line is they beat us on the boards and took better shots.”
Steven Marshall added 12 points for Morgantown.
MORGANTOWN
Colasante 2 1-3 5, Antonini 0 0-0 0, Fleming 0 0-0 0, Marshall 4 3-3 12, Johnson 5 0-0 11, Adrian 8 2-4 22, Eby 0 0-0 0, Agnew 3 0-2 6, Allen 2 0-1 4, Loudin 0 0-0 0, Fulmer 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 6-13 60. WHEELING PARK
Popicg 2 2-4 8, Baynes 1 0-4 2, Pugh 0 1-2 1, Peluchette 0 0-0 0, Saseen 1 0-2 2, Bell 1 0-0 2, Snedecker 0 1-2 1, Thomas 3 0-0 7, Geisel 0 0-0 0, Lathon 6 3-7 15, Kowalo 0 0-0 0, Phillips 3 0-0 6. Totals 17 7-22 44.
Morgantown 14 15 19 12 — 60
Wheeling Park 10 7 15 12 — 44
3-point goals: MHS 6 (Adrian 4, Johnson, Marshall), WPHS 3 (Popicg 2, Thomas)

Mohigans survive a cold first quarter
The Dominion Postt
BECKLEY — The Morgantown High boys’ basketball team survived a disastrous first quarter and held on to beat Hedgesville, 47-44, at the Big Atlantic Classic on Friday.
The Mohigans (11-3) were outscored, 16-5, in the first, but then turned the tables on Hedgesville (11-2) in the second quarter.
MHS used a 15-3 run to take a 20-19 halftime lead.
“We woke up finally,” MHS coach Tom Yester said. “We were pretty bad in the first quarter, but we got back in the game. It was nip-and-tuck all the way. They had the lead, and then we had the lead. We made just enough free throws at the end to win it.”
Nathan Adrian led MHS with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Austin Agnew added nine points and nine rebounds.
MHS will play Woodrow Wilson, at 9 tonight.
MORGANTOWN (11-3)
Colasante 1 5-8 8, Marshall 2 2-3 6, Adrian 6 2-4 14, Agnew 2 5-7 9, Allen 1 1-3 3, Johnson 3 0-2 7, Fleming 0 0-0 0, Loudin 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 15-27 47.
HEDGESVILLE (11-2)
Shields 4 3-4 11, Burks 4 0-0 9, Peterson 6 1-2 15, Powell 3 0-0 6, Largent 1 0-2 2, Fisher 0 1-2 1, Shanton 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 5-10 44.
Morgantown 5 15 10 17 — 47
Hedgesville 16 3 9 16 — 44
3-point goals: MHS 2 (Colasante, Johnson), Hedgesville 3 (Peterson 2, Burks).
Girls’ basketball Nicholas County 45 Preston 38

No. 1 Bulldogs bully Mohigans in 75-62 victory
The Dominion Post
MARTINSBURG — Jalen Lewis poured in 22 points as No. 1-ranked Martinsburg took a huge lead then held off Morgantown, 75-62, in boys’ basketball Tuesday.
Lewis, who “couldn’t have played much better,” Mohigans coach Tom Yester said, hit four 3-pointers and led four Bulldogs (13-0) in double-figure scoring. Jordan Robinson netted 14 points, Brandon Ashenfelter 11 and Addie Gilmore 10.
Nick Colasante topped the Mohigans, with 17. Nathan Adrian added 11 and Austin Agnew 10.
The Bulldogs shot out to a 22-13 lead after a quarter, then stretched it to 40-26 at halftime and 62-38 after three quarters.
“Oh my, they couldn’t miss,” Yester said. “They had eight of their 10 3-pointers in the first half. We played zone, man(-to-man), it didn’t make any difference. We were on our heels, we didn’t play well defensively or offensively. Then they came out in the third quarter and just stomped on us.”
Nevertheless, the Mohigans managed to make a game of it late.
“To our credit, we didn’t give up,” Yester said. “We had the ball 10 (points) down and missed a shot to put us down by seven. We couldn’t knock it in.
“Colasante had a fine game,” he added. “Agnew played pretty well, and (Mark) Johnson had a nice run in the comeback.”
Yester said Adrian and Agnew had nine rebounds each but “hardly anyone else on our team had a rebound. We shot well (25-of-49), the difference was at the free-throw line, they were able to get to the rim and we weren’t.”
The Bulldogs outscored MHS, 15-4, from the line.
Morgantown plays at University High on Friday.
The Mohigans’ JVs also lost, 50-38. Shaun Cardin had 10 points to top MHS.
MORGANTOWN (9-2)
Colasante 6 0-0 17, Antonini 0 0-0 0, Leftridge 1 0-0 2, Fleming 0 2-2 2, Marshall 2 0-0 4, Johnson 3 0-0 8, Adrian 5 0-0 11, Eby 1 0-0 2, Agnew 4 2-2 10, Allen 1 0-0 2, Loudin 2 0-0 4, Fullmer 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 4-4 62.
MARTINSBURG (13-0)
Robinson 5 3-4 14, Lewis 7 4-4 22, Gilmore 3 2-2 10, Brown 1 0-0 3, Cole 3 0-0 8, Ashenfelter 5 1-2 11, Grantham 1 5-7 7. Totals 25 15-19 75.
Morgantown 13 13 12 24 — 62
Martinsburg 22 18 22 13 — 75
3-point goals: Morgantown 8 (Colasante 5, Johnson 2, Adrian), Martinsburg 10 (Lewis 4, Gilmore 2, Cole 2, B

Freshman boys’ basketball University 50, Morgantown 40; 1/23/2012: Michael Ramsey and Jeremy Eckels each scored 13 points to lead the Hawks, while Nick Hall had 11 for the Mohigans.

Freshman boys MHS 36, East Fairmont 27: 1/9/2012 Alex Cook scored 12 points to lead MHS (10-0). Jacob Delaney paced East Fairmont with eight.

Freshman boys’ basketball Morgantown 49, Preston 18: 12/05/2012 Felipe Costellanos scored seven points to lead the Mohigans (9-0). C.J. Lansberry scored five to top the Knights (7-2).

Adrian (25 points) leads Mohigans past Patriots 1-6-2012
The Dominion Post

PARKERSBURG — Nathan Adrian had a big game, as the Morgantown High boys’ basketball team won at Parkersburg South, 65-48.
Adrian had a double-double, with 25 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Mohigans (6-1).
Also having a big game for MHS was Dean Marshall, who had five rebounds and four assists to go with his 15 points, while Connor Loudin came off the bench to spark the Mohigans with 11 points.
A third quarter burst made all the difference for MHS after leading by just three points at halftime.
Morgantown plays again today, when it will host South Charleston at 5:45. The JV game will begin at 4 p.m.
MORGANTOWN (6-1)
Colasante 0 0-0 0, Antonini 0 0-0 0, Leftridge 2 0-0 5, Fleming 0 0-0 0, Marshall Marshall 6 2-3 15, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Adrian 9 6-8 25, Eby 0 0-0 0, Agnew 2 0-0 4, Allen 2 0-0 5, Loudin 4 2-3 11, Fulmer 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 10-14 65.
PARKERSBURG SOUTH (N/A)
Bolen 0 0-0 0, Patterson 0 0-0 0, Monroe 5 1-1 13, Ozcan 0 0-0 0, Sterling 0 0-0 0, Dennis 2 0-0 4, Lawrentz 1 0-0 3, Goldsberry 2 0-0 5, Lynch 0 0-0 0, Holland 1 0-0 3, Price 0 0-0 0, Reppetto 0 0-0 0, Mitchem 4 2-2 10, Cox 3 4-5 10. Totals 18 7-8 48.
Morgantown 12 16 19 18 — 65
Parkersburg South 14 11 11 12 — 48
3-point goals:Morgantown 5 (Leftridge, Marshall, Adrian, Allen, Loudin). Parkersburg South 5 (Monroe 2, Lawrentz, Goldsberry, Holland).
Boys’ JV basketball Parkersburg South 49, Morgantown 47: Sam Heinzman scored a career high 15 points, but it wasn’t enough as Morgantown (5-2) lost.

Polar Bears cool off unbeaten Mohigans 12/29/11
The Dominion Post

FAIRMONT — Jarin Hilson netted 17 points and Trevon Horton 16, and Fairmont Senior defeated Morgantown, 53-47, in a battle of unbeaten boys’ basketball teams Thursday.
Trailing, 28-23, Morgantown (5-1) surged ahead with a 16-8 third-quarter edge, but the Polar Bears (6-0) owned the fourth quarter, 17-8.
“They’re pretty good, the best Fairmont team I’ve seen in a while,” MHS coach Tom Yester said. “The story of the game was their guards pressured our guards, and our guards turned the ball over and couldn’t convert,” he said, lamenting his team’s 16 turnovers.
“We missed a whole bunch of buckets at the rim,” Yester added. “We usually have three, four guys in double figures and tonight we had one.”
That was Nathan Adrian, who had 16 points to go with nine rebounds. Austin Agnew pulled down 12 boards.
“We got a lot of work to do,” said Yester, whose team next plays tonight, on the road vs. Parkerburg South.
MORGANTOWN (5-1)
Colasante 2 2-4 7, Leftridge 1 0-0 2, Fleming 0 0-0 0, Marshall 1 2-2 4, Johnson 1 0-2 3, Adrian 8 0-1 18, Agnew 4 1-2 9, Loudin 0 4-4 4, Allen 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 9-15 47.
FAIRMONT SENIOR (6-0)
Horton 6 2-4 16, Hilson 5 6-7 17, L. Jones 2 0-0 4, V. Jones 1 3-5 5, Waitts 3 4-5 11. Totals 17 15-21 53.
Morgantown 12 11 16 8 — 47
Fairmont Senior 11 17 8 17 — 53
3-point goals: MHS 4 (Adrian 2, Colasante 1, Johnson 1), FSHS 4 (Horton 2, Hilson 1, Waitts 1).

MHS boys breeze 12-27-11
The Dominion Post
FAIRMONT — Morgantown High boys’ basketball coach Tom Yester likened his Mohigans’ performance in Tuesday’s game, at East Fairmont, to a yo-yo. “We were up and down,” Yester said. Junior forward Nathan Adrian made sure the Mohigans were more up than down with 25 points and 14 rebounds in a 66-50 victory. It was Adrian’s fifth double-double of the young season. Dean Marshall scored 15 points, Christian Allen seven and Jeff Leftridge six for MHS (5-0), which broke the game open in the third quarter, outscoring the Bees, 22-11.
“We were sloppy and not as aggressive as we should have been throughout the game,” said Yester, whose team committed 12 turnovers. “We made too many mental mistakes.”
Evan Gorman led East Fairmont, with 16 points. Joseph Casalinuova scored 14.
MHS returns to action Thursday, at undefeated Fairmont Senior.
MORGANTOWN (5-0)
Colasante 1 0-0 2, Antonini 0 2-2 2, Leftridge 3 0-0 6, Fleming 0 0-0 0, Marshall 4 5-6 15, Johnson 0 2-2 2, Adrian 11 2-7 25, Eby 0 0-0 0, Agnew 0 2-2 2, Allen 3 0-1 7, Loudin 0 2-2 2, Fullmer 0 3-4 3. Totals 22 18-26 66.
EAST FAIRMONT (N/A)
Casalinuova 4 5-6 14, Devito 0 0-0 0, Gorman 5 3-7 16, Demyon 0 0-0 0, Corwin 1 1-2 3, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Murphy 2 0-0 5, Hrapchak 0 0-0 0, Bowman 5 2-3 12, Mills 0 0-0 0, Arnett 0 0-2 0. Totals 17 11-20 50.
Morgantown 10 17 22 17 — 66
East Fairmont 6 16 11 17 — 50
3-pointers: MHS 4 (Marshall 2, Adrian, Allen), East Fairmont 5 (Gorman 3, Casalinuova, Murphy).

MHS sloppy in 65-44 victory 12-19-2011
The Dominion Post

WELLSBURG — The Morgantown High boys’ basketball team beat Brooke, 65-44, in its first road test of the young season Monday night, but the Mohigans’ performance didn’t leave a smile on coach Tom Yester’s face.
MHS (3-0) committed 17 turnovers and shot just 2-of-12 from 3-point range and 9-of-16 from the foul line. Nathan Adrian led MHS with 23 points, 12 rebounds and four assists. Steven Marshall scored nine points and Jeffery Leftridge seven.
“We didn’t execute very well,” Yester said. “We ran a little bit in the second half. We ran pretty well. We were sloppy and weren’t very sharp. Hopefully, we’ll get better. We’re playing No. 1 [Wheeling Park] on Thursday at home. We’re going to have to play a great deal better to have a chance.”
Ryan Heaton led Brooke (0-2) with 10 points.
MHS (3-0) won the junior varsity game, 55-29, behind Adam Shaw’s 15 points and Scott Core’s seven.
MORGANTOWN (3-0)
Colasante 0 0-0 0, Leftridge 1 3-4 7, Marshall 4 0-0 9, Fleming 2 0-1 4, Johnson 2 1-3 6, Allen 1 0-0 2, Adrian 10 3-6 23, Eby 1 0-0 2, Agnew 1 0-0 2, Loudin 2 0-0 4, Fullmer 2 0-0 4, Antonini 0 2-2 2. Totals 27 9-16 65.
BROOKE (0-2)
Gialluco 0 0-0 0, Pizzuti 3 2-2 8, Breen 4 1-4 9, Schambach 0 2-2 2, Johnson 2 0-0 4,Wallace 0 0-6 0, Heaton 4 1-3 10, Schwertfeger 3 1-5 7, Gambellini 2 0-0 4. Totals 18 7-22 44. MHS 7 19 18 21 — 65 BGHS 4 12 11 17 — 44
3-pointers: MHS 2 (Marshall, Johnson), BHS 1 (Heaton).