CHARLESTON – The Morgantown High School boys basketball team will make its sixth consecutive appearance in the semifinals of the state tournament after defeating Riverside 73-58 in the quarterfinal round.
Morgantown (21-2) was a well-oiled machine on the offensive end of the floor, shooting 61% from the field in the contest, including 50% from 3-point range.
MHS senior Waylon Colistra scored a game-high 32 points (14/18 FGs), adding eight rebounds and five assists. Junior Max Frey joined him in double figures with 19.
Riverside (13-11) was led by duo Rocco Terry and Josh Brock with 20 points each.
Second-seeded Morgantown advances to tomorrow’s Class AAAA semifinal against No. 3 Spring Mills at 9 p.m. The Cardinals defeated University 64-55 in the first quarterfinal game.
“I’m really proud of our guys, we’ve been working extremely hard over the last week to sure some things up on the defensive end and offensively,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said. “I’m not sure we could’ve executed much better, especially in the second quarter.”
After a triple at the buzzer for Riverside that ended the first quarter tied the game at 15, the Mohigans came out in the second like a completely different team.
MHS shot 10 for 13 in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors 25-9 in the frame. Senior Cam Kellogg provided the spark that started the run with back-to-back triples, before assisting Colistra on a third.
The run allowed the Mohigans to enter the locker room leading by 16 points after the second-quarter flurry.
Tallman says his team didn’t have many adjustments made in between the quarters.
“We’ve got great leadership, and it’s something we’ve worked on all year,” Tallman said. “We’ve kind of flipped a switch in that department recently, and I think our guys would agree. We like the long media timeouts because they basically get a minute by themselves, and then I come in. My staff does a great job, and the scouting report by Stevie Southerland was excellent tonight.”
MHS senior Marcus Goins added 8 points off the bench with a pair of triples. Cam Kellogg added 9 important points that helped the Mohigans pull away in the game.
MHS and Spring Mills will battle in the Class AAAA semifinals on Friday night.
“They’re very good; they’re the champs,” Tallman said. “They have swagger on the court and will try to bully and intimidate you. We have to be tough and withstand that. It’s going to be a knockdown, drag-out type of game, and the tougher team will prevail.”
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 73, Riverside 58
MHS 15 25 19 14 – 73
RHS 15 9 17 17 – 58
Morgantown (21-2) W. Colistra 14 3-5 32 Frey 8 2-3 19 Kellogg 3 1-1 9 Goins 3 0-0 8 Henkins 1 0-0 3 Ridgeway 1 0-1 2 TOTALS 30 6-10 73
Riverside (13-11) – Brock 8 3-3 20 Terry 6 8-10 20 Mullins 3 0-0 7 Slack 1 1-2 3 Booker 1 0-0 3 Coles 1 1-1 3 Brockman 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 21 13-16 58
3pt goals made – Morgantown 7 (Kellogg 2 Goins 2 W. Colistra 1 Frey 1); Riverside 3 (Brock 1 Mullins 1 Booker 1).
