Published: February 08, 2008 11:55 pm      

Mountain State Academy’s ‘biggest home game’ tonight

Mountain State Academy (26-3) hopes every one of its games in the future is a big one.

For now, its biggest game of the season will be tonight when the Falcons host Mount Zion at the Birdcage. Even bigger than the Falcons’ game with The Patterson School.

“I think everybody in Beckley is familiar with Mount Zion,” Mountain State coach Rob Fulford said, noting the basketball powerhouse played here in the Mountain State Coal Classic in 1997 and 1998. “And they will be the same type of team. They’re talented and athletic.”

Mainly talented, led by 6-foot-7 Karron Johnson, the No. 1-rated small forward in the country for the Class of 2009 and the No. 7 small forward overall.

Johnson is receiving overtures from Kansas, Connecticut and Memphis.

The other Mount Zion standout is combo guard Jason Calliste. The 6-2 Toronto native is the nation’s No. 24 shooting guard.

“It’s definitely our biggest home game,” Fulford said. “When we played The Patterson School, that was a prep school. This is a high school program, so we’re playing kids on the same page.”

Key for the Falcons will be controlling the tempo.

“We definitely have to play our game,” Fulford said. “We have to control the tempo and withstand their runs because they’re going to make runs. What we have to do is respond when they do.”

Mountain State has been a good defensive team, giving up just 46.3 points per game.

“We make a lot of adjustments,” Fulford said. “We switch up quite a bit. We’ll pressure the ball, trap out of the man and run a little 1-3-1. We’re constantly changing and applying pressure.”

Sophomore shooter Kofi Mensa, who is receiving interest from West Virginia, Pitt, Marshall, St. Joe’s, Virginia Tech, Duquesne and James Madison, leads the Falcons with a 19.1 points per game average.

D.J. Georgievski is the only other Falcon in double figures at 12.1.

After that, Mountain State shows four players averaging nine points per game, including starters Josh Birchfield (9.8 points, 9.6 rebounds), Victor Ogunniyi (9.7) and Jabs Newby (9.2). Phillip Milinovic, who is drawing interest from Colorado State and the University of Denver, is netting 9.2 off the bench.

“With the direction we’re taking the program, we’re going to have teams of this caliber in here on a weekly basis,” Fulford said.

MSU Academy has been invited to play Virginia Tech’s junior varsity squad as a preliminary game of the Virginia Tech-Georgia Tech game Feb. 23 in Blacksburg, and the Falcons will play in Hargrave Military Academy’s end-of-the-season tournament.