February 5, 2012
Mohigans rally to win over Woodrow
By Dave Morrison
Register-Herald Sports Writer
Morgantown was in the zone against Woodrow Wilson and there wasn’t a thing the Flying Eagles could do about it. Or with it.

But it wasn’t the type of zone where everything you throw at the basket goes in, but a defensive zone. And Woodrow Wilson couldn’t solve it.

The Flying Eagles committed untimely turnovers and watched No. 4 Morgantown overcome an 11-point deficit to win 53-48 Saturday in the Class AAA championship game of the Big Atlantic Classic at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

“That zone,” Woodrow Wilson coach Ron Kidd said, shaking his head after the game. “We can’t pass. And it’s a problem. At least that’s the way it looked to me. Give Morgantown credit, but we had a lot to do with this loss.”

“We used a couple of different zones, but finally settled on one (late) and it gave them some trouble,” Morgantown coach Tom Yester said. “We were at a spot in the game where we couldn’t throw it in the ocean and I thought Nate (Adrian) became more of a passer. He found Dean and Mark Johnson a couple times and Nick (Colesante) did a good job running the team.”

Woodrow led 30-19 early in the third but the Mohigans methodically came back and broke a 45-45 tie with back-to-back 3s from Marshall and Johnson to go up 51-45.

Andrew Johnson and Christian Day combined for three free throws to make it a one-possession game.

Woodrow had two chances to tie in the final 30 seconds after Morgantown missed the front end of two 1-and-1s but couldn’t convert.

Austin Agnew finally made a free throw with five seconds left to seal the win.

“It’s terrible,” Kidd said. “We just couldn’t do anything with that zone. And we have got to figure it out.”

Woodrow Wilson had an 11-point lead, 30-19, after scoring early in the third, but the Mohigans fought back, cutting the lead to two, 38-36, using a 7-0 run late in the quarter. But Day scored at the buzzer giving Woodrow a 40-36 lead.

Woodrow was lethargic at the start, a night after beating No. 1 Martinsburg.

The Flying Eagles fell behind 14-10 after one, as Morgantown 6-foot-9 junior Nathan Adrian, who has verbally committed to WVU, had a couple of long-range 3s.

But Woodrow caught fire midway through the second, and went on an 13-0 run that helped the Eagles go ahead by as many as 11, 28-17.

Shannon started the uprising with a 3, and Nabors ended it with a 3 and a couple of baskets, both off assists from point guard Ta-Ron Ayers. Woodrow capitalized on three Morgantown turnovers in taking an 11-point lead.

One of the turnovers came when Mark Johnson’s inbounds pass hit the backboard.

Woodrow led 28-19 at the half and limited Morgantown to five points in the second quarter.

Adrian had 12 of Morgantown’s 19 first-half points and finished with 17. Johnson had 16 and Marshall had nine rebounds for Morgantown, which outrebounded Woodrow 41-29.

“They beat No 1 last night and we feel like we beat No. 1 tonight,” Yester said. “It’s a hard place to come into and win. That makes it satisfying.”

Woodrow was led by Day’s 10 points and nine rebounds.

Woodrow Wilson (12-2) hosts St. Albans Wednesday at the Convention Center at 7:30 p.m.


Morgantown 53, Woodrow Wilson 48

Morgantown (13-3)

Mark Johnson 6-12 3-4 16, Nick Colesante 2-9 2-3 7, Dean Marshall 2-11 4-6 11, Nathan Adrian 6-14 2-2 17, Austin Agnew 1-2 2-2 4, Nick Fleming 0-0 0-0 0, Connor Loudin 0-2 0-0 0, Christian Allen 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-50 13-17 53.

Woodrow Wilson (12-3)

Andrew Johnson 0-4 2-4 2, Cameron Shannon 3-12 0-0 7, Matt Potter 3-4 0-0 6, Larry Terry 2-4 0-0 5, Christian Day 3-7 4-5 10, Ta-Ron Ayers 3-12 3-4 9, Dante Nabors 3-8 1-2 8, Steve Lewis 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 17-51 11-17 48.

M    14    5    17    17    —    53

WW    10    18    12    8    —    48

Three pointers — M: 6-19 (Johnson 1-5, Colesante 1-4, Marshall 1-4, Adrian 3-5, Loudin 0-1); WW: 3-20 (Johnson 0-2, Shannon 1-8, Terry 1-3, Ayers 0-5, Nabors 1-2). Fouled out — M: Adrian.

Woodrow Wilson’s Andrew Johnson, left, shoots as Morgantown’s Nathan Adrian defends during their Big Atlantic Classic game Saturday night at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. Morgantown won 53-48.
Rick Barbero