No. 1 Morgantown Holds Off Wheeling Park
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WHEELING -- A 13-point run in the fourth quarter made all the difference as No. 1 Morgantown held off Wheeling Park 61-50 in the Palace on the Hill Wednesday night.
Wheeling Park (13-8) led the Mohigans 34-31 with time ticking down in the third quarter but Morgantown (16-4) showed why they've been the top team in Class AAAA this season and rattled off 13 points in a 16-1 run to grab the lead back and hold onto it for good.
"We calmed down and executed offense," said Morgantown coach Dave Tallman. "It's like when one guy's having an off night, other guys step up and Brody Davis stepped up for us. It's always different guys who help us win in tight games like that."
Davis sank five 3s for the Mohigans and finished with 17 points. Just as deadly was senior Brooke Gage, who scored all 15 of his points after halftime.
"We needed the game in the 20s at halftime, it was there and we had a good third quarter but honestly, I think the difference was Brooks Gage," said Park coach Mike Jebbia. "I thought he hit key shots for them and really kind of put them over the top."
Jebbia said the Patriots' gameplan was to keep the pace of the game as slow as possible and try to keep the high-powered Morgantown offense from quickly running up the score.
"We tried to run our offense a little bit higher and tried to have longer possessions," Jebbia said. "A lot of the teams that play (Morgantown) try to run with them and when you do that, it's lights out. We can score high against most teams we play but with Morgantown High, you've got to alter the pace a little bit."
Jebbia's plan worked as intended as Morgantown held a slim 21-18 lead at halftime, but the Mohigans were able to pick up the pace in the second half to out-score Park 40-32.
"That's been their gameplan on us for five or six years now, that's no secret," Tallman said with a chuckle.
"We know they're going to try and slow it down and spread it and be very patient. I thought, for the most part, our defense was very good, especially in the first half."
Park also did not shoot the ball all that well from the perimeter, which Jebbia accredited to Morgantown's defense rushing his shooters a bit. Caleb Francis and Aiden Davis both made two triples, but several others clanged off the rim.
Despite that, Park managed a 12-2 run in the third quarter that gave them their first lead of the game. A layup by Brett Phillips put the Patriots up 34-31, but it also marked the start of Morgantown's 16-1 run that ultimately put the game away.
In the end, Jebbia thought it was Morgantown's superior experience that gave them the edge over his young Patriots.
"Number one is their experience," Jebbia explained. "Number two is that all of their five starters are able to catch it, dribble it, shoot it and they're hard to guard."
Alec Poland led the Mohigans with a game-high 20 points while Brody Davis (17) and Gage (15) also finished in double figures.
On the other end, Tallman came away impressed by Park and was left wondering why the Patriots are ranked outside of the top 10 teams in Class AAAA.
"People are crazy, they don't have Wheeling Park in the top 10 (AP Poll)," Tallman said. "They should be in the top 10, they're one of the best teams we've played all year and they should be ranked higher."
Phillips led Park with 16 points with Francis (14) and Aiden Davis (12) supporting.
These two teams could meet again a week from now in the Region 1, Section 1 Championship, should both of them win their semifinal games next Tuesday. No. 1 Morgantown will host No. 4 Brooke while No. 2 Wheeling Park will welcome No. 3 John Marshall.
Before the playoffs begin, however, Park will travel to play at Martinsburg on Friday while Morgantown will host Musselman later today.