MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Three days after Morgantown’s boys basketball program had its 50-game home win streak snapped in a loss to Spring Mills, the Mohigans had no choice but to turn the page or risk enduring a skid at their venue.
Refocused and recharged, the Mohigans were crisp offensively throughout Friday’s rivalry matchup and buckled down defensively over the final three quarters to roll past the Hawks, 77-43.
“On Tuesday, we were a little passive. Not intimidated, but we walked the ball up the floor,” Mohigans’ head coach Dave Tallman said. “We got back to what we do. We played Morgantown basketball tonight, pushed the rock, shared it and we made some shots. Defensively is where it always starts. University came out and made some shots, but eventually, your legs are going to go when you’re not used to playing against that kind of pressure.”
Four of Morgantown’s starting five accounted for at least five points in the opening quarter, led by eight from point guard Marty Johnson. Demarcus Bandy, Waylon Colistra and Brady Savage followed with five apiece, helping MHS (6-1) lead by 10 through 8 minutes despite the Hawks (8-2) scoring a plenty respectable 15 points in the opening frame.
The second quarter was more defensive-minded on both sides, and the Hawks were well within striking distance and faced a 28-20 deficit following a three-pointer from Jagger Barnes.
Although Savage accounted for the next two field goals from close range, Barnes hit another triple to cut the Morgantown to lead to nine.
A key stretch to close the half followed, with the Hawks going scoreless and Morgantown getting layups from Colistra and Savage with two Johnson free throws in between, allowing the home team to lead 38-28 at the break.
Savage, with 12 points, led all players in scoring through two quarters, while Johnson added 10.
“It’s been an adjustment for Marty moving into the starting role and the other day, he was like, ‘I feel like I can’t get anything going’, and I told him, ‘you’re doing great and I’m asking a lot of you.’ We keep raising the bar on Marty, but tonight, he really showed up and had a wonderful game and I’m sure that’ll continue,” Tallman said.
Of more concern to the Hawks, however, as a lack of rebounding, with the Mohigans dominating the glass throughout to the tune of a 39-19 advantage.
“We got killed on the boards. Our rebounding was pathetic,” Hawks’ head coach Joe Schmidle said. “We had four rebounds at halftime. I don’t know how many second-chance points they had, but that was a huge difference in the game.”
With UHS trailing 41-27 early in the third, Johnson drained a three to mark the start of a 7-0 spurt that also featured close range buckets from Max Frey and Colistra.
Cam Kellogg connected from the perimeter moments later to make it 51-29, and the Mohigans continued to excel offensively in what amounted to a 26-point quarter that allowed them to increase their lead to 64-36 entering the fourth.
“A lot of missed assignments on defense. We gave Colistra and Savage way too many easy buckets,” Schmidle said. “A lot of back screens, and we didn’t switch on them and we weren’t communicating very well. We have to get that stuff cleaned up. I think we’ll do a much better job with that when we have a little bit more time to prepare for them, which hopefully we will when we see them again in a few weeks.”
Johnson led all players with 17 points and was followed by Savage and Colistra, who added 16 apiece in the win.
“It all starts with our guards getting penetration and when the help steps up, they find those guys,” Tallman said. “They’re very unselfish.”
Four other MHS players scored at least five points, including Bandy, who added game high totals of eight rebounds and seven assists.
Luke Byrer led University with 10 points and Zach Demidovich added nine despite limited playing time in the first half as a result of two early fouls.