The Road to States

by Abbi Francisco

Our gentleman’s patriot basketball team is off and ready to take home the

state title. The boys are starting their year with a fantastic record. Each game

they work hard and strive to be the best. I would compare the boys to the

well-oiled machine. They are good at what they do, and they do not

disappoint.

Ashton Mooney is a senior this year at Parkersburg south, he has been on

the patriot basketball team all four years of high school. Just last week

Mooney received his game point high of 35 points against University High

school. Mooney explained that they have a great team, a great coach, and

great attitudes. Mooney said, “We are trying to win it all, we work really hard

in practice to achieve our goals.” This team is ready to travel to Charleston

and win it all. Riley Street is also a fourth year player on the team. Riley

enjoys playing offense with is team, he explains there’s an adrenaline rush

making the points. Street also agrees with Ashton, “The talent our team

holds has the potential to take us to states.”, says Riley.

Coach Mike Fallon is back in charge of the patriots, this is his second year

back and he is doing an excellent job. He is being assisted by Mark Cothern

and Rick Leech. The players have nothing bad to say about these three men.

“Our program is one of the best in the state, they care about us and push us

to be better athletes, but more importantly better people.”, Cyrus Traugh

explains. These coaches, and others like Billy Camp have been preparing

these boys for years. They have put in the time and effort to make these kids

great, these men have never given up on their players.

This year they all have the same goal; they are hungry for the state

championship. The patriots need to keep a level head and fight to the finish.

The players and coaches realize the potential they have to win. The stakes

are high and the competition is tough, but they will push through.