FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Fairmont Senior controlled the tempo for 32 minutes in an 87-72 win over Morgantown at the 201st Fairmont Senior Fieldhouse. The Polar Bears pushed the pace for the entire game with three players scoring over twenty points.
WVU recruit Jalen Bridges led the way for FSHS with 22 points. He became the eleventh player in Fairmont Senior history to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Ironically, fellow senior Zyon Dobbs was honored in a pregame ceremony for becoming the tenth player to reach the mark last week. Dobbs and Dasilas Jones each scored 21 points.
“I have put in a bunch of work and now scoring a thousand points shows that work paid off,” Bridges said.
Fairmont Senior led for the final 29 minutes of the game but a series of MHS mini-runs kept the Mohigans in the game.
“It was a very unique game,” said Fairmont Senior head coach David Retton. “You look at how well we played on offense and defense. And then conversely you can look at how poorly we played on offense and defense.”
The Polar Bears jumped out to a 23-13 lead at the end of the first quarter and used a 10-0 run to take a 19-point lead midway through the second quarter. The Mohigans ended the half with a 10-4 run to cut their halftime deficit to 38-25.
Fairmont Senior reestablished control of the game with a 13-1 run late in the third quarter, building a 61-40 lead.
Morgantown crept within eight points with three minutes to play but the Polar Bears pulled away in the closing minutes, improving to 9-1. Morgantown fell to 8-4.
The Mohigans were led by Garrett Haines, who scored a game-high 23 points. Cam Selders added 18 points.
“We ran into a buzzsaw,” said Morgantown head coach Dave Tallman. “They’ve kicked our butt all summer. That’s a tough matchup for us. We didn’t come out ready to play.”
“We didn’t get back on defense. We were jogging around. That isn’t Morgantown basketball.”
Morgantown’s challenging schedule continues with top-ranked and unbeaten Martinsburg (12-0) visiting on Monday.
“I would rather come to Fairmont Senior and get whooped like we did tonight than go beat somebody by forty,” Tallman said. “That’s not going to make us any better. If you look, there’s nobody in the state that plays close to the schedule that we play.”
“We don’t duck anybody. We’re going to play them all because we want to get ready for March.”