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Class AAA defending champ Morgantown with another strong start

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A significant early-season matchup is set for Wednesday night out of Class AAA Region 1 as Morgantown hosts rival University – it’s the most recent challenge for the Class AAA defending state champion Mohigans.

The Hawks are 8-0 on the season with an impressive road win at Parkersburg South, 60-54. Morgantown, meanwhile, is coming off of its first boys basketball state championship from a year ago where the Mohigans didn’t lose a game.

With re-classification moving Parkersburg and Parkersburg South out of Region 1 to Region 4, both University and Morgantown will be favored to advance this year from Region 1 — something that will undoubtedly add even more to the rivalry between the two schools.

“I think last year, the rivalry started to (pick up),” Tallman said. “University looks really good and respect what they’re doing. They were very competitive last year and we had to beat them four times. It was a fight until the fourth quarter when we were able to take control of those games. But they were younger and they have their nucleus back. It should be a packed house (on Wednesday night).”

A MetroNews High School Sportsline interview with Morgantown coach Dave Tallman is posted at the top of the page.

Morgantown saw its 31-game winning streak come to an end earlier this season in dramatic fashion, falling to Kennedy Catholic (PA) 67-64 on a buzzer-beater shot from beyond half-court. Still, the Mohigans entered the week at 6-1 and have a key win themselves over Class AA defending state champion Fairmont Senior, 58-47.

“We had a tremendous offseason and we have a good group of kids with a really good nucleus,” Tallman said. “People are kind of overlooking us, but we’re probably deeper than we were last year and these kids deserve to win – they’ve really put the work in.”

The Mohigans lost four starters from that state championship team, but returned senior point guard Nicky Solomon who averaged 11 points per game a year ago and was a member of the Class AAA all-tournament team.

“Nicky put on 25 pounds of muscle in the offseason and he has looked really good,” Tallman said. “He’s a tremendous kid and tremendous leader for our team. He goes so hard every day.”

Senior guard Torin Hanson has also emerged as a significant scoring threat, while 6-foot-5, 230 pound sophomore center Nick Malone and senior forward Deon Agnew have molded into bigger roles as well.

“We’ve built the expectation of effort, pressure and the things that we do,” Tallman said. “We’re going to get after it and really guard – that effort has been great. They’ve been bringing the energy and our seniors our doing an excellent job. You can tell the program is kind of built and reloading, because those (seniors) are extra coaches on the floor and it’s neat to see.”

Buckhannon-Upshur and Preston join Morgantown and University in Region 1, Section 2, while Brooke, John Marshall and Wheeling Park make up the opposing section.

MORGANTOWN
Senior Basketball Schedule
1 Cancelled 5:45 JV OnlyPM H – ROBERT C. BYRD   
2 Cancelled 5:45 JV OnlyPM H – BUCKHANNON-UPSHUR   
3 12/16/16 6:00 / 7:30PM H – ELKINS
97 43  W
4 12/17/16 9:30 / 11:00PM H – WESTSIDE
51 40  W
5 12/20/16 5:45 / 7:30 PM H – PRESTON HIGH SCHOOL  78 34  W
6 12/22/16 5:45 / 7:30 PM A – BUCKHANNON-UPSHUR  68 41  W
7 Cancelled 6:00 JV onlyPM A – BRIDGEPORT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL   
8 12/29/16 6:45 / 8:00PM H – KENNEDY CATHOLIC
64 67  L
9 12/30/16 4:30, 6:15 / 8:00PM H – FAIRMONT SENIOR 58 47  W
10 01/03/17 5:45 / 7:30PM A – WHEELING PARK  63 34  W
11 Cancelled 5:45 / 7:30PM H – PARKERSBURG SOUTH   
12 01/11/17 5:45 / 7:30PM H – UNIVERSITY   
13 01/13/17 5:45 / 7:30PM H – JOHN MARSHALL   
14 01/16/17 4:00PM H – MUSSELMAN AT FAIRMONT   
15 01/18/17 5:45 / 7:30PM A – PARKERSBURG SOUTH   
16 01/21/17 4:30 / 6:00PM A – MARTINSBURG   
17 01/23/17 5:45 / 7:30PM H – BROOKE HIGH SCHOOL   
18 01/27/17 5:45 / 7:30PM A – UNIVERSITY   
19 02/03/17 TBA Varsity onlyPM A – BIG ATLANTIC CLASSIC AT BECKLEY   
20 Cancelled TBA Varsity onlyPM A – BIG ATLANTIC CLASSIC AT BECKLEY   
21 02/04/17 TBA Varsity onlyPM A – BIG ATLANTIC CLASSIC AT BECKLEY   
22 02/08/17 6:45PM A – BECKLEY SHOOTOUT IN THE BIG HOUSE @ CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER   
23 02/10/17 5:45 / 7:30PM H – WHEELING PARK   
24 02/14/17 5:45 / 7:30PM A – OVAC SEMIFINALS   
25 Cancelled 7:15 JV onlyPM H – BRIDGEPORT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL   
26 02/18/17 12:30PM A – OVAC CHAMPIONSHIP @ OHIO U. EASTERN   
27 02/20/17 5:45 / 7:30PM H – MARTINSBURG   
28 03/01/17 7:00PM A – SECTIONAL SEMIFINAL TBD   
29 03/03/17 7:00PM A – SECTIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TBD   
30 03/07/17 7:00PM A – REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP TBD   
31 03/15/17 11:15 / 7:15PM A – STATE TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS @ CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER   
32 03/16/17 11:15 / 7:15PM A – STATETOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS @ CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER   
33 03/17/17 5:30 / 9:00PM A – STATE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS @ CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER   
34 03/18/17 7:15 PM A – STATE CHAMPIONSHIP @ CHARLESTON CIVIC CENTER   
 wins: 6   lost: 1   ties: 0




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