Morgan take award for Iaeger

By BRIAN WOODSON

BLUEFIELD — It’s the final season of basketball at Iaeger High School.

Lawrence Morgan got it off to a good start, scoring 26 points, grabbing 10 rebounds and dishing out five assists to lead the Cubs to a season-opening 53-49 win last Monday over Big Creek.

Morgan also added 14 points in Iaeger’s 50-37 win over Meadow Bridge at the Hoops Classic in Charleston.

Those numbers, in addition to his contribution in a loss to Burch during a 2-1 week for the Cubs, earned the 6-foot-5 senior the title of Pocahontas Coal Association / Bluefield Daily Telegraph Player of the Week.

Morgan combined with 6-4 Cody Jackson for 42 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists in the win over the Owls, the first of three meetings between the two schools that will consolidate into the River View High School in Bradshaw next season.

Iaeger head coach Don Smith said after that game that the Cubs are simply working to have a good season and not worried about it being the last season.

“We’re not putting any emphasis on this being the last season,” Smith said. “The boys had a really successful football year and that usually translates into a really decent basketball year. I think we can be as good as we work to be.”

Morgan worked hard in all three games last week, two of which were wins. While Morgan — who was part of the Cubs’ 7-4 football team — and Jackson had all but 11 of Iaeger’s points in the win over Big Creek, they were quick to deflect the credit elsewhere.

“If it wasn’t for our guards, we couldn’t play like we played,” said Morgan, of the Iaeger backcourt, including Landon Hurley, who had five assists against the Owls. “They’ve got to give us the ball, as long as they get us the ball, that’s all we can ask for.

“We’ve just got to make things happen down low, we’ve got to hit the boards and do what we’ve got to do.”

If the weather will cooperate and power has been restored, Iaeger hopes to return to action in its own John Sparks Shootout next Tuesday. Morgan knows what the Cubs must do to be effective, and have a memorable final season on the hardwood.

“We’ve got to come out and not get excited over nothing,” said Morgan, whose Cubs overcame a 15-8 first quarter deficit against Big Creek to score 15 straight points to take a lead they wouldn’t lose. “We’ve just got to come in and play our game. We can’t play nobody else’s game, we don’t know how to play nobody else’s game. We’ve got to play our game.”

The Cubs opened its season in a day game with Big Creek, playing in front of their peers. Iaeger will do the same later this year, including at Big Creek on Jan. 28.

Morgan enjoyed that experience, and he’s looking forward to a season that will be the last for the Cubs, and last for him since he’ll be part of Iaeger’s final graduating class.

“That is pretty cool,” Morgan said. “It’s definitely a cool thing, it was pretty fun.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com



Honorable Mention

Dec. 14-20

Big Creek (0-1): Cody Underwood, 16 points; Jacob Muncy, 15 points, all 3s.

Bland County (1-1): Darryl Clark, 25 points; Chase Hankins, 18 points; Asher Dillow, 10 points vs. Montcalm; Jonathan Dunn, 11 points vs. Montcalm.

Council (1-0): Chris Tiller, 14 points.

Giles (1-0): Caleb Tilley, 18 points; Codey Williams, 15 points; Andy Randel, 12 points.

Haysi (0-1): Chris Fleming, 19 points; Byron Bowman, 16 points.

Honaker (1-0): Jeremiah Dye, 13 points; Clark Dye, 10 points; Blake Gent, 10 points; Ty Hall, 10 points.

Iaeger (2-0): Cody Jackson, 33 points; 16 points, 7 rebounds vs. Big Creek; 17 points vs. Meadow Bridge.

James Monroe (1-1): Trevor Smith, 33 points; John Ballengee, 35 points.

Mercer Christian (0-1): Devon Taylor, 14 points.

Montcalm (0-2): Naythan Mooney, 25 points, 11 points, 7 rebounds vs. James Monroe, Jabe Meadows, 26 points, 10 rebounds; Bobby Bailey, 23 points; Daniel Pendergrass, 19 points.

Narrows (1-0): Brock Lusk, 25 points; Ryan Dunford, 12 points; Ben Thompson, 11 points; Andrew Pennington, 10 points.

PikeView (1-0): Tommy Symns, 19 points; Ben Nester, 16 points.

Pipestem Christian (2-0): Austin Peyton, 19 points; Zach Worley, 19 points; Aleks Lane, 25 points, 17 points, including 10 in final minutes and overtime in win over Calvary Baptist.

Richlands (1-0): Gunner McGee, 18 points; James Patton, 11 points; Austin Johnson, 11 points, 10 assists.

Twin Valley (1-0): Josh Smith, 26 points, 16 rebounds in win over John Battle; Lucas Shortridge, 17 points, 5 assists, 4 blocks, 3 steals.

Note: Statistics include only games reported to the Daily Telegraph. To report games or make recommendations for this award, call (304) 327-2813, (800) 763-2459 or e-mail sports@bdtonline.com

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