MORGANTOWN — Members of the Morgantown High girls’ basketball team don’t have to look very hard to learn about the tradition of their program.
The nine state-championship banners that hang from the gym rafters are a daily reminder of just how successful the Mohigans have been on the hardwood.
“The banners in the gym do their own talking,” MHS head coach Jason White said. “We try to do a lot to talk about our tradition and the girls that have played in this program before. Girls that have laid a foundation, girls that have gained us this reputation and this bulls-eye (that’s) on our back every time we play a game.”
With the beginning of the Class AAAA sectional tournament on Tuesday, the Mohigans (18-3) played like there was something at stake on their way to an 81-31 win over visiting Brooke in the Region I, Section 1 contest.
Morgantown, ranked No. 2 in the state, used a suffocating defense, solid shooting and took advantage of 31 Brooke turnovers in the contest.
“(Defense) is the thing we have hung our hats on all year,” White said. “It’s kind of what we have to do because our offense can be a little ugly at times and we can go through some scoring droughts.”
There were no droughts in sight, as MHS shot 34-of-62 (55.8%t) from the field with point guard Sofia Wassick leading the way.
She finished with a season-high 20 points and added five assists, four rebounds and six steals in the contest.
“For me, my defense creates my offense,” Wassick said. “When I can get steals, I can get my teammates transition layups and I can even get myself some points sometimes.”
Morgantown held a 34-12 lead at halftime and even held the Bruins (5-13) scoreless in the second quarter until the 1:48 mark. It was that pressure defense that Brooke head coach Amy Serevicz said she knew was going to give her team issues.
“We knew it was coming,” Serevicz said. “We just don’t handle pressure well. I think they just get nervous. They fall apart when someone is up in their face.”
Brooke did find some success in the third quarter as it leaned on center Ava Bolen, to cut the MHS lead to 21 points. However, that success was short lived as the Mohigans turned their defense up another notch.
“We hold teams to 34 (points) on the season,” White said. “I don’t think we had great attention to detail early in this game. Our communication wasn’t great, we were in several different defenses, and I don’t think we communicated that well amongst one another on the floor.”
Despite the communication struggles, the Mohigans do advance to Friday’s 7 p.m. sectional championship contest where they will host Wheeling Park, who knocked off John Marshall.
Morgantown split a pair of regular-season contests with the Patriots.
“Tonight, I came out confident,” Wassick said of her performance. “I knew I didn’t want to lose I knew this could potentially be our last game. So, I just wanted to put all I had onto the court.”
Mia Henkins added 12 points for MHS while Kate Hawks hit four 3-pointers for 12 points of her own. Sadaya Jones scored 13 and Lily Jordan added 11 points with six rebounds.
Bolen led Brooke with 14 points in the Bruins’ final contest of the season.
“Coach White reminds us of the tradition here like every day,” Wassick said. “He tells us we have to work hard because there’s a legacy behind us. We have to work just as hard for them, as they did for us. I think we are reminded of it like every day, and we want to be like them. We really want to do it for (coach White) – this is his last year.”
— Story by Eric Herter
Brooke (5-13)
Platt 1 1-2 3, Lippoli 1 1-2 3, Schwertferger 3 2-2 8, Serevicz 1 1-2 3, Bolen 7 0-0 14. Totals: 13 5-8 31
Morgantown (18-3)
Wassick 10 0-0 20, Chipps 1 0-0 2, Henkins 4 2-2 12, A. Smith 1 0-0 2, Bechtel 2 1-2 5, Sweeney 1 0-0 2, Hawkins 4 0-0 12, Jordan 5 0-1 11, P. Smith 1 0-0 2, Jones 5 2-2 13. Totals 34 5-6 81.
1 2 3 4 F
Brooke 6 6 14 5 31
MHS 24 10 24 23 81
3-pointers – Brooke: None. MHS: Hawkins 4, Henkins 2, Jordan, Jones.
