Highlanders Suffer First Loss of Season

There is one priceless moment in the above highlight video: After Tyler Anderson drills a long 3 point shot, watch the reaction (or disbelief) of Notre Dame coach Jarrod West (at about 1:20 into the video).

Host school Notre Dame did not need the "luck of the Irish" Friday evening in Clarksburg as they demolished the Webster County Highlander boy's basketball team by a score of 81 to 55 to win the BB&T Holiday Tournament.

The Fighting Irish of Notre Dame led at the end of each quarter, building their lead as the game progressed. The Irish led 17 to 14 at the end of the 1st quarter, 35 to 25 at halftime, 56 to 41 at the end of the third quarter, and outscored Webster 25 to 14 in the fourth quarter.

If there was at least one bright spot for Webster County, it was the aggressive play on both defense and offense by junior center Dalton Davis when he was in the game. Davis scored 15 points and had a team high 12 rebounds, and also had 1 steal. Davis was often found contesting Notre Dame shots under the hoop and contending for offensive rebounds when Webster had the ball. Davis made a hot 77% of his shots. In this reporter's opinion, Davis has the ability to play this well every game if he stays aggressive and asserts himself as he did Friday evening.

Sadly, the game was marred throughout by the perception of Highlander fans that the referees were "one-sided" for Notre Dame. One female Webster fan was even ejected from the game during the latter part of the third quarter for constantly yelling at one referee in particular.

Perception of the referees is one thing but actual video of the game is another. As most readers know, this reporter films most of the Highlander boys games. A review of the video of most of the hotly contested calls made against Webster actually show that the referees got it right. Granted, the referees could have called fouls against the Notre Dame players more often, but the fouls called on the Webster players were, for the most part, correct. That may be a tough pill to swallow for some folks, but the video supports that conclusion. This conclusion is further supported by the game statistics: The referees called 26 fouls on Notre Dame and only 20 on Webster, which included 1 technical foul.

This reporter sat directly behind Notre Dame head coach Jarrod West. West played basketball at WVU where he was a three-time Academic All-American and co-captain of the team. In 1998, he was a member of the WVU team that participated in the NCAA tournament. During Friday's game, West constantly implored his Irish players to expose the weaknesses in the Highlanders. His game plan as overheard by many was well thought out and his players executed it perfectly throughout the game. 

No amount of "bad refereeing" can be used as the excuse for how well the Irish played. Friday evening, Notre Dame was just the better team on the Court. Fortunately for Webster, they have the ability to easily regroup from this loss and move on to better results. Had this been a close game, this reporter would also question the loss due to the calls made by the referees. Time to move on.

Hunter Given led all Webster scorers with 17 points, and he added 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, and 2 steals. Brett Morris scored 14 points and had 7 rebounds, 5 blocked shots, 3 assists, and 1 steal. Others playing for Webster included: Tyler Anderson, 3 points; Guy Cowger, 3 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 assists; Stephen Cogar, 2 points, 3 rebounds; Rick Holcomb, 1 point; Logan Taylor, 3 rebounds, 1 assist; and Lance Stout, 1 rebound. As a team, Webster made 20 of 51 shots for a 39% shooting percentage, and made only 12 of 28 free throws, or 42%.

Webster's record drops to four wins, one loss on the season and they next play at Midland Trail on Thursday, January 3, 2013.

On a bright note for Webster County, the Lady Highlanders won the girls Holiday Tournament, beating the host Irish by a score of 46 to 40.