MORGANTOWN 56 UNIVERSITY 40
Mohigans reap rivalry revenge
Adrian nets 24 points to lead victory

BY KRISTIN KURELIC
The Dominion Post
In a Jan. 27 matchup, University High — in dramatic 48-47 fashion — handed Morgantown High its first loss in the crosstown rivalry in six years.
For a brief time Friday night, it appeared UHS (9-9) could do the unbelievable again. After taking control of the tipoff, the Hawks hung with Morgantown (14-3) through the first quarter, holding MHS standout Nathan Adrian to four points. The start of the second quarter saw the score in favor of MHS, but only 17-14.
Unfortunately for UHS, the game did not get any closer. Instead, the Mohigans continued on to get their revenge and rout the Hawks, 56-40.
“We never want to lose to those guys, so it felt good,” Adrian said. “We worked on their 1-2-2 (defense), which killed as last game, so we were more prepared.”
“Overall, the team defense was probably the difference of the game,” Morgantown coach Tom Yester said. “They scored two (points) in the third, so we were able to get out to a lead and then put the pressure on them to try to come back.
“Anytime you get an emotional game like that, what emotion does to you is it tends to make you forget or you tend to jump up and down, and in this game, jumping up and down’s not very good. You need to stay down. So stay in that defensive stance and play. But overall, I thought (we were) pretty darn good.”
The Mohigans began to stretch their lead in the second quarter, with Adrian coming alive to score 10 of his 24 points, converting a basket plus free throw and then hitting a 3-pointer to tally six quick points.
With UHS trailing, 30-20, Curl Dixon (13 points) knocked down a last second 3-pointer from well beyond the arc to bring UHS seven behind heading into halftime.
Upon returning to the court, Travis Tomer hit a quick layup and it appeared the Hawks had the momentum. However, they could not capitalize. That would turn out to be the last basket for a UHS player in the quarter. MHS put together a 12-0 run, roaring to a 42-25 lead.
“It seemed like at the critical points, when we did get decent looks at the basket, we just couldn’t put ’em in there. They kept stretching the lead and the kids got a little frustrated,” University coach Paul Ingle said.
Although Yester admitted, “Free throw shooting wasn’t very good,” the Mohigans got to the line and made them when it counted, shooting 8-of-10 at the stripe in the fourth quarter to seal the win.
An Adrian dunk, to rousing cheers from the MHS student section, put the exclamation point on the effort.
“All the kids played hard,” Ingle said. But a second miracle was not to be, and this time it was MHS’s turn to rush the court, victorious in the arch-rivalry.
Adrian scored a gamehigh 24 points, supported by juniors Steven Marshall, who contributed 13 points and eight rebounds, and Nick Colasante, with five points and five rebounds. For the Hawks, Tomer also had 13 points.
MORGANTOWN (14-3) Johnson 1 2-2 4, Colasante 1 3-6 5, Marshall 6 0-0 13, Adrian 9 4-7 24, Agnew 1 2-4 4, Fleming 0 0-0 0, Loudin 1 0-2 2, Allen 0 4-6 4. Totals 19 15-27 56. UNIVERSITY (9-9) Tomer 6 0-0 13, Dixon 5 1-1 13, Cunningham 2 0-0 4, Fraser 2 0-0 4, Warden 1 0-0 2, N. Gutmann 0 0-0 0, G. Gutmann 1 0-0 2, McLaughlin 0 2-4 2. Totals 16 3-5 40. Morgantown 17 13 12 14 — 56 University 13 10 2 15 — 40 3-point goals: MHS (Adrian 2, Marshall), UHS (Dixon 2, Tomer).

University’s Travis Tomer (2) surges for the basket past Morgantown’s Nathan Adrian.

Jason DeProspero/The Dominion Post photos
UHS’s Deion Cunningham (left) hacks MHS’s Nathan Adrian during a drive to the hoop.