Mohigan Journal- 3-08-02
Well, the boys did it. They executed and played with great desire
and pulled out the big 20 point win over West Fairmont on Tuesday
evening. The fact that we play great team ball, seems to be what
everyone is saying about this team. It didn't start Tuesday night
or last week or at the beginning of the season for that matter. It
began six years ago. That's when Nick, Ronnie, Justin and Bobby came
together. They formed an off -season team that went out and played
against some really good competition, that included many opponents
from this years schedule, on all-star teams. You ask what is an
all-star team? They are teams, which have members that are the
best players from many different schools. Most often our boys which
weren't an all-star team would get pounded in the off-season. By
taking their lumps when they were young, these players had many lessons
from which to pull on during this current season. I remember when
they were little and we went to Parkersburg for a tournament, and
were down 22-1 at the end of the first quarter. It was the first
time I had coached them and they were looking at me like what are
we doing here. On the team we were playing was Matt Shamblin (a junior
at Parkersburg South, today). He was joined by players from all over
the Mid Ohio Valley. After years of hard work, and several beatings,
these guys have made a name for themselves. The addition of the
juniors has really helped as many of you can attest after watching
the game the other night. The work in the weight room was a big
part of the victory over West Fairmont as we out rebounded them by
10, even though they are 6'8, 6'6, 6'4. As you know our tallest guys
is just under 6'4, but we kept coming down with big rebound after
big rebound. The satisfaction of being in our third straight regional
and winning our second one in 3 years is tremendous. We try to show
these guys that hard work pays off. It has, and now maybe they can
turn their lives into successes by working hard, because that is
what it takes.
Now on to Charleston! The boosters and athletic department are taking
care of most of our expenses as well as the cheerleaders expenses.
The support we are receiving is tremendous to say the least. We
will be traveling down on Wednesday evening and get to see the evening
session. The next day we will practice at the University of Charleston
and play our game in the evening. The team will eat at the nicest
restaurants
and will stay in a great Charleston area Motel. This is reward for
the hard work these boys and their parents have put in. Coach Yester
believes in going all out when rewarding his teams. He runs one of
the finest programs in the state and is really happy with the way
things are going for this team.
Robert C. Byrd will be our opponent in the first round. Many of
you remember the game at the MAC during late Decemeber. It was a
close game and we played well at the end or wouldn't have won. They
have a late season victory over west and are playing very well now
at the end of the season. I expect this game to go down to the wire
and be very entertaining.
Congratulations to Geremy on being awarded his first football scholarship.

WVU and Coach Rod are very interested in Geremy and want him to
sign early. Geremy is a terrific football player and is a excellent
basketball player as well. He obviously along with Seth did a good
job on Will Bridges the other night at the regional. Many of our
better football players have not played much basketball after their
sophomore year in the past few years. The commitment it takes to
play both sports is tremendous and Geremy elected to play, and we
are glad. He made a big difference this season. It would be very
easy for him to not play and just worry about football. But he wanted
the taste of victory that we had the other night. You could see his
competitive nature take over as his intense defense had West on their
heels the whole evening.
We have state tournament t- shirts for sale at $10 a piece. See
Coach Yester if you want one. I will write another Journal on the
weekend but wanted to get one out earlier this week since so much
is happening.
Congratulations: Players and Families and Go Mohigans!