MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — After watching Morgantown High senior Berit Johnson play for the No. 4-seeded Mohigans, it’s hard to believe many thought she was going to be a future frontcourt start in the WNBA.
Just before middle school basketball, Johnson said she was always one of the tallest players on the team, hitting a growth spurt before many of her peers.
“A lot of people would tell me I’d go to the WNBA, which is pretty ironic because I struggle to see over people now,” Johnson said.
Now, at 5-foot-6, Johnson is about as far from a post player as one can be, manning the shooting guard spot for MHS, but it wasn’t an easy transition, even for a young player.
Around 5th grade, she went from one of the tallest players on the floor to having to move outside and work as a guard. With that came the need to improve her speed, agility, ball-handling and shooting.
All through middle school, Johnson was trying to learn her craft, and when she finally reached high school, she had the fundamentals down — it was a matter of putting it all together mentally.
“As a younger player, if she missed her first shot she didn’t have the confidence to keep shooting,” MHS head coach Jason White said. “As a senior, she has developed into one of the finest 3-point shooters in the state, shooting 50% from 3 for the season.”
Johnson is one in the trio of seniors leading the Mohigans (10-2) this season, along with Kaitlyn Ammons and Cat Wassick. Johnson’s sharpshooting mentality helps MHS work inside-out — teams often collapse on Ammons, leaving Johnson open on the outside.
This season against Preston, Johnson made seven 3-pointers, the most by a Mohigans in 10 years.
Working through the doubt and continuing to shoot is helped by her teammates’ confidence in here.
“No one is going to be mad if I miss a shot or turn the ball over because they trust my skills,” John said. “And I’m the same with them. The trust we’ve built that there are no off days.”
MHS will need Johnson this weekend as the Mohigans open the state tournament Thursday, looking for their first state championship since 2016, the final year of a three-peat.
Last year was their first trip to the state tournament since 2016 but fell to Woodrow Wilson in the first round.
This year, a familiar foe awaits MHS in the first round — TRAC rival Wheeling Park. This will be the fourth time in 13 games the two teams will square off with the Mohigans holding a 2-1 advantage. MHS won the last meeting 41-32 on April 16 in the Class 4A Region I co-final.
” We’ll need to sit down and defend and control the boards,” Johnson said. “Offense will come. Our defense has definitely made a drastic improvement from the beginning of season and needs to continue to improve to make it to Saturday night.”
The quarterfinals matchup is scheduled to begin a 9 p.m. Thursday and the winner will face the winner of No. 1 Huntington vs. No. 8 Martinsburg at 9 p.m. Friday.
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