(Game highlights)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Top seed Morgantown began the state tournament with a display of hot shooting Thursday in a resounding victory over Musselman that saw the Mohigans make better than 60 percent of their shots over the first three quarters and 11 3-pointers.
Twenty-four hours later, Morgantown was back in action to face No. 4 South Charleston in a Class AAAA semifinal, and while the Mohigans weren’t as efficient as they were a night earlier, this time it was their defense that made all the difference in a 58-42 victory over the Black Eagles at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.
Morgantown held SC to 10 field goals over the first three quarters and limited the Black Eagles to only 34 shots, while forcing 13 of the game’s 17 turnovers.
“We were able to grind it out,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said. “Yesterday, we shot it really well, and we heard all day leading up to the game how great of shooters we are. We didn’t make many today. A lot of it was from not sharing the ball like we did yesterday, but at halftime, they adjusted, shared the ball and made the extra pass.
“But the big key was our defense. We took them out of about everything they wanted to do.”
The victory sends MHS (22-4) to Saturday’s title game, where it will face the winner of No. 2 Jefferson/No. 3 Parkersburg South.
While the Mohigans struggled offensively throughout the entirety of the opening half, their defense enabled them to take a 21-14 lead into halftime. Despite making only 6-of-22 field-goal attempts through two quarters, Morgantown turned a two-point first-quarter lead into a seven-point halftime advantage by limiting the Black Eagles to three field goals in each of the first two quarters and scoring six second-quarter points on free throws to South Charleston’s one.
“They’re a very good basketball team,” SC head coach Josh Daniel said. “They have no weak spots, especially offensively, and they’re probably the best defensive team that we played all year as well.”
Cam Danser gave Tallman’s team a big lift off the bench in the opening half by making both of his 3-point attempts to tie for game-high scoring honors at the break with six points.
“When they made the extra pass, I was going to make sure I knocked it down no matter what,” Danser said.
However, South Charleston (21-6) found its footing offensively early in the second half, utilizing triples from Wayne Harris, Bryson Smith and Cayden Faucett to close its deficit to 25-23, before a Faucett layup knotted the game at the 4:39 mark of the frame.
Morgantown regained control and took a 31-26 lead on Danser’s layup, before Harris picked up a pivotal fourth personal foul with 2:32 left in the quarter.
The Mohigans took full advantage by outscoring the Black Eagles 10-1 over the remainder of the frame, getting three points from point guard Sha’Ron Young off free throws, a Brooke Gage trey and consecutive buckets from Alec Poland for a commanding 41-27 advantage.
“We had kind of dug ourselves a hole before that happened,” Daniel said. “But we were tied midway through the third and then we lost the game in a 2 or 3-minute stretch. It was a two or three-point game game and ballooned to 14 really quickly.”
Danser started the fourth-quarter scoring with his third triple in as many tries and Jalen Goins followed with back-to-back layups to make it a 23-2 surge in all since the game was tied at 25.
SC got no closer than 15 the rest of the way.
“Cam was awesome,” Tallman said. “The guys will be the first to tell you that. Cam came in and did what Cam does.”
While the Black Eagles shot 47 percent (16 of 34), they scored only four points on free throws to the Mohigans’ 19, with Young making 11-of-13 attempts to key Morgantown’s advantage in that aspect.
Young finished with 19 points, four assists and three steals, while Poland scored 13 to go with five rebounds. Danser scored 12 on 4-of-4 shooting and also had five boards, while Gage contributed 10 points.
“When you have Sha’Ron, it’s a lot of fun because, he can see you sometimes from I don’t know where or how,” Poland said. “Sometimes we got stagnant early in the thirrd quarter, but later in the third, we shared the ball really well.”
Harris had 17 points and six assists in the finale of his sophomore season. Smith and Mondrell Dean scored seven apiece in defeat.
“Morgantown is a great team right,” Smith said. “They have four or five players that can play at the next level. iI’s a tough team to play against for sure.”
(Morgantown postgame press conference)