Big Reds fall to Mohigans on senior night
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PARKERSBURG -- In an attempted upset on senior night, the Parkersburg Big Reds kept the No. 3 Morgantown Mohigans on their toes. However, a strong second half by coach Dave Tallman's bunch put the Tuesday night contest out of reach in a 71-56 final.
The crowd in attendance at the PHS Memorial Fieldhouse (which included members of the 1970 state champion boys' basketball team) saw the last regular season home game for Sam Potts, Noah Umpleby and Brody Asbury, as the red and white kept up with Morgantown in the early going. Bryson Singer chipped in six of his 12 points in the opening frame, and Julian Martin dropped four of his nine tallies in the first. While balanced scoring from the Big Reds (7-15) kept them in a 17-14 game after eight minutes, Umpleby and Potts got hot in the next quarter.
Following an and-1 make from MHS's Alec Poland, the two Big Red seniors forged a big connection. Potts hit a jumper with 6:53 on the clock off an assist from Umpleby. Then, Potts repaid the favor by finding Umpleby open on the perimeter during the next PHS possession. Umpleby wasn't done, as he hit two more triples to keep his team in the thick of things. In total, he hit five shots from beyond the arc en route to a 17-point performance that led all scorers. Consistent production inside from the Mohigans helped the keep a slight 30-26 advantage going into the locker room.
After members of that '70 championship team were honored at halftime, Morgantown (18-3) flexed its muscle to put Parkersburg away. Despite the continued PHS efforts, Morgantown used a 41-26 second half to end the threat. In the loss, the Big Reds travel to take on Ripley in sectional semifinal action. PHS head coach Bryan Crislip liked that his group kept up with a quality Morgantown team, as he wants them to use this game as a learning experience for when they meet the Vikings.
"It was senior night, so the kids were a little nervous, but I was proud. They put a lot of time in over the last few days to put some shots up," Crislip said. "It shows we're a good team, and we can stay competitive with anybody. We got sloppy at times, and that's what hurt us. It was senior night against Morgantown."
They're No. 3 in the state, and they've been beating everyone by 30. To hang with them and make a ballgame of it, I was proud of the kids."
Another memorable moment came with a little more than a minute remaining when senior student-manager Maitham Alkafaji had his moment on senior night. The 5-foot-5 Alkafaji was introduced alongside PHS's starting five as an honorary starter during player introductions, and he got his time to shine when he scored the game's final points on a lay-up which saw him pumping up the crowd.
In a season full of ups and downs for the Big Reds, Potts spoke after the game about how it felt to put on a show on senior night. His 15 points helped keep the team afloat through three quarters.
"It was amazing, because even though we were down, the fans were still just as loud," the guard said. "This is the best place to play in the world, I feel like. I think we stack up against (Ripley) well. We started out really well against them when we were up 15 in the first half. Then, we forgot to box out. We just need to do the little things right at the end."
Contact Josh Hughes at jhughes@newsandsentinel.com