Mohigan Journal -- March 2, 2003

by Johnny Mo Higan

WHAT A GAME! If you didn't get to see the Mohigans game Saturday night, you really missed some excitement!

A larger than usual crowd was on hand for Senior Night, and to watch MHS defeat Parkersburg, 67-57. Parkersburg arrived with the largest fan group I've seen for a visiting team, and they were LOUD. However, our own Rowdie Society kept the noise level turned up all the way.

Our seven seniors were announced one by one, and were escorted out on to the playing floor by their parents.... Dan and Brenda Dalton (Dan), Dave and Darlene Fogarty (Seth), Mike and Janice Minutelli (Vito), Sue Murray (Chad), Ed and Carolyn Gum (Geremy), Dave and Sandy Simpson (Matt), and Terry and Sally Williams (Tim). That was enough to make the evening a memorable one.

UNTIL THE GAME STARTED.

MHS raced out to a 25-16 first quarter lead, and were leading by 6 at half-time. Wow! Who expected this kind of a contest?!? Our boys could do nothing wrong, so it seemed. Passing was excellent, the rebounding was outstanding, the offense was superb, and the Mohigans "clicked" as a team. But after half-time, the team cooled off and couldn't seem to hit anything, and the Mohigans appeared to be struggling. Shots were falling short of the mark, and MHS was held to just 2 points. At the end of the third quarter, the Mohigans were down, 48-44. What happened?

The fourth quarter started out as dismally as the third quarter had been. Coach Yester called a time-out. Whatever he said to the players, it worked. They started to regain their earlier performance level. The Rowdie Society were on their feet, and they turned up the noise level some more. The Parkersburg fans were almost as loud. Several more shots were attempted, and finally they started to fall in, but Parkersburg stubbornly clung to their lead. The Mohigans were down by just one, 53-52. (At this point, I was going through my pockets looking for my Rolaids.) Ben Torsney fought his way to the basket and scored, putting the Mohigans up by one, 54-53. Absolute bedlam in the gym!

From that point on, the remaining 13 points were all free throws! Parkersburg began to foul the Mohigans, sending several players to the free throw line, and they were PERFECT shots.

Several of the players had outstanding performances ... Chad Murray ("Mr. Clutch") came through when the heat was on, with 9 points. Geremy Rodamer played what I think is his best game of the year. Tyler Benson had 14 of his points in the first half. Seth Fogarty was in his usual top form, with 13 points and several steals. (If Fogarty decides to quit football, I think he's got a great career in basketball.) Kameron Law had some great blocks and rebounds, and seemed to be all over the court.

Like I said earlier, WHAT A GAME! I hope the team delivers the same performance for the first round of the sectional tournament. WE know they can do it, and THEY know they can do it, so let's go for a third win against UHS (Thursday at MHS). I hope we get a full house for that game, and let's make as much noise then as we did on Saturday. You don't want to miss that game!