MORGANTOWN — With both standing well over six feet, Morgantown senior Sydni Clawges and sophomore Kaitlyn Ammons are no stranger to playing the post.
Together, they pose one of the deadliest inside threats in Class AAA basketball, but what makes them dynamic isn’t just their skill near the rim, it’s the ability to adapt to the perimeter.
When things got physical Friday evening as Morgantown hosted cross-town rival No. 8 University, Clawges and Ammons stretched the floor, combining for six 3-point baskets and 41 points to lead the Mohigans to a 57-54 victory.
“Those kids both played extremely well tonight,” Morgantown coach Jason White said. “Especially with how physical it was.
“Those are two kids that are used to scoring it around the rim, not tonight, they scored from the perimiter because it was physical around the rim.”
The duo’s skillset allows Morgantown to bring a lengthy lineup to the floor, expose holes in opposing defenses and exploit them.
“To have them both be a threat to do that, it allows us to go big and move Clawges out to guard. With Clawges, Ammons, and [Jadyn] LaNeve, we’re playing three bigs at a time, and most teams are going to put a guard on one of those three,” White said. “We’re forcing you to mismatch, so when you put the guard on one player, she’s going to go post, then we’re going to step your big out away from the rim.”
It was the pair’s versatility which kept the Hawks’ defense on their toes all night, and in the long run, proved too tough to guard.
“It didn’t help us. They hit some pretty key 3s to help them stay in the lead, and they played an excellent game from the perimeter as well as inside,” said University coach David Price.
Clawges led the charge with 21 points for Morgantown, while Ammons contributed 20 points.
For the Hawks, Zoe Murphy led all scorers with 24 points, while Ashten Boggs also tallied double-digits (13).
