CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Coming off a season in which it won the Class AAAA championship and went unbeaten against state competition, Morgantown was rightfully considered a favorite to repeat.
Yet being projected to again finish the season on top is one thing, and actually doing so is another.
“It’s really hard to repeat,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said.
But on the strength of a 7-0 run over the final 1:57 of Saturday’s Class AAAA title game against No. 3 Parkersburg South, the Mohigans were able to do just that as they prevailed at the Charleston Coliseum, 65-58.
“Our program is based on doing things the right way. High character guys that win the right way,” Tallman said. “We don’t talk all year. We let our play on the court do the talking.“
In a game where neither team led by more than 10, it was the finish that decided it.
The Patriots (21-7) got a conventional three-point play from guard Cyrus Traugh to pull even at 55 with 3:29 remaining. The Mohigans’ Brody Davis countered with a three-pointer, but Traugh answered with one of his own, leaving the contest tied at 58 with 2:42 remaining.
PSHS got the ball back with a chance to take a late lead, but Davis came up with a steal that led to Cam Danser’s transition dunk, giving Morgantown (26-2) a two-point lead with 1:57 left.
“The adrenaline and the crowd, after that, I knew that was the exclamation point,” Danser said.
Over their next two possessions, the Patriots missed three shots, before Davis made two clutch free throws with 58 seconds left to double the lead.
“Every day in practice we do a situational free throws and being down one and with no time on the clock,” Davis said. “We all have the mindset of if we get to the free-throw line, we’re going to make them and win the game. In your mind, you think that you’re the best shooter in the state. I enjoy the pressure.”
Two more missed shots on the ensuing sequence prevented Parkersburg South from closing to within one possession and Danser drilled two clutch foul shots to make it 64-58 with 40 seconds remaining.
After Trough’s triple pulled the Patriots even, they missed their final seven field-goal attempts and turned it over three times.
“In the last 2 minutes, I’ve never seen more shots go in and out,” Patriots’ head coach Mike Fallon said.
It was a slow start for Parkersburg South, which was seeking revenge after falling to the Mohigans by three in last year’s final.
While Fallons’ team led 7-6 early, the Mohigans ran off 11 straight points for the only double-digit advantage of the game. During that spurt, Izzy Everett and Davis each made a three.
However, PSHS answered, using five points from Nathan Plotner to cut its deficit in half, and the Patriots trailed 17-12 entering the second quarter.
Morgantown struggled to break Parkersburg South’s full court pressure in the second frame, and the Patriots scored nine straight points to start the frame. A Jackson Smith triple gave Parkersburg South a 19-17 lead and Plotner followed by scoring from close range.
“Their pressure hurt us. We were being weak with the ball,” Tallman said. “They speed you up. In the state tournament, they let you play. We know that going in there. We were in foul trouble in the first half, which didn’t help us.”
Two triples from Aiden Blake later in the quarter allowed PSHS to up its advantage to 33-24, but the Mohigans responded in the fashion Tallman hoped for to close the first half.
A layup and jumper from Sha-Ron Young brought Morgantown to within five, and while the Patriots tried to hold the ball for one final shot before halftime, they instead turned it over and it led to a Davis trey in the final seconds that sent Morgantown to the break facing a 33-31 deficit.
“The biggest turning point was in the second quarter. We had a nine-point lead and we felt like we had some possessions we should’ve scored on,” Fallon said.
(Postgame “Round of Sound”)
Everett scored his team’s first six points of the second half on two triples, and after Young added a trey and Danser scored inside, the Mohigans led 42-35 and had scored 18 of the last 20 points going back to the opening half.
However, the Patriots responded with an 8-0 spurt and went ahead 43-42 on two free throws from Traugh.
“Any situation that we were in,” Fallon said, “we found a way to come back from.”
Everett, Davis and Young then each made one basket over the final 2:18 of the third, while the Mohigans held the Patriots scoreless during that time to enter the fourth leading, 48-43.
Davis opened the fourth with a triple for an eight-point margin, but the Patroits outscored the Mohigans 9-2 over a stretch of 1:06 and trailed by one following consecutive baskets from Austin Reeves and Traugh. That set the stage for the frantic finish, but the Mohigans prevailed, allowing them to go unbeaten against state competition for a second straight season and giving Tallman a third state championship in his MHS tenure.
“We work extremely hard. It’s really hard to win here,” Tallman said. “We treat our players like kings and they work hard for us. One of the biggest reasons we do this is because of my coaching staff.”
Young finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and five steals. Over three state tournament games, the point guard led Class AAAA with 26 rebounds.
(MetroNews Broadcast Highlights)
“Coach has always told us to gather ourselves and come together as a team. There were times we were not playing as a team,” Young said. “We had to stick together and battle until the end.”
Davis, bound for Shepherd, led all players with 18 points and added eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. He scored a Class AAAA best 58 points at the state tournament.
“Brody stepped up big and he was unbelievable down here,” Tallman said.
Everett added 14 points and made all three of his treys, keying Morgantown’s 9 for 15 shooting from long range.
Kisner scored nine points on 3-for-4 shooting and Danser scored six.
Traugh’s 16 points led PSHS. Blake followed with 13 and a team-best six boards, while Plotner scored 12 to go with five rebounds and four blocks.
“I don’t think us seniors feel bad about what happened. We gave it our all and we shouldn’t feel bad if we gave it our all,” Traugh said.
Emotions ran high between Tallman and Fallon during the game.
Afterward, Fallon, unprompted, made it a point to note his team didn’t have a transfer and appeared to take issue with the Mohigans adding Kisner, a 6-7 University transfer who is headed to West Liberty.
“Our society is totally backwards right now,” Fallon said. He then continued, adding, “Coach Tallman ought to be happy. His recruiting budget must be higher than mine I guess. I don’t know.”
When asked for more specifics on what appeared to be a somewhat heated exchange between he and Fallon just after time expired, Tallman opted not to get into detail.
“I’m going to take the high road. We’re going to win with class and enjoy this championship,” Tallman said. “I’ll let the SSAC figure that out.”
Tallman went on to praise his players, adding, “They’re really good people, and if anybody says anything else, they’re full of crap.”
(Morgantown postgame press conference)
Class AAAA all-tournament team
Izzy Everett, Morgantown
Will Shively, Jefferson
Mikey Johnson, Huntington
Jamari Jenkins, Jefferson
Austin Reeves, Parkersburg South
Cyrus Traugh, Parkersburg South
Brody Davis, Morgantown
Sha-Ron Young, Morgantown