MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown and University girls’ basketball teams each earned impressive victories Friday evening to open the BFS shootout hosted by University High School.
MHS (3-0) defeated Kennedy Catholic (Pa.) 51-30, shortly after UHS took care of business against Albert-Gallatin (Pa.) by a score of 70-38.
The Mohigans used a stifling defensive effort to run past the 2021 PIAA runner-up KC Eagles.
MHS held its opponents to just 7-of-39 from the field, and while the Mohigans didn’t have the best offensive performance either (22-of-48 shooting), eight different players that saw the floor scored a basket. Head coach Doug Goodwin praised his team’s discipline, particularly underneath the basket as KC held a size advantage.
“You never know until you see a team in person how much of an advantage height is,” he said. “They were focusing on getting the ball to the bigs in the post there, we did a good job of getting hands on the ball and getting deflections. I’m really pleased with the defensive effort.”
Goodwin’s team jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the opening quarter behind the strong defense, but only led 12-7 after one. Despite outshooting the Eagles 17-9 in the first, only five shots went in for MHS. Goodwin says he is quick to remind his players that the game plan doesn’t change simply because shots aren’t falling at times.
“The message is just to keep at it,” he said. “Nothing negative, just remind them to keep going at it and take the opportunities you have. I thought Lily played more aggressively in the second half and it helped her. We are so unselfish as a team and that’s going to help us going forward.”
Lindsay Bechtel led MHS with 12 points, with Lily Jordan adding 11.
The Mohigans improve to 3-0 and will return to UHS this afternoon for a matchup against Albert-Gallatin at noon.
The Hawks (2-0) used an all-around effort to run past the Colonials. 10 different players scored a field goal for UHS, including four of them in double-figures.
Momentum was with the hosts for the entirety of the first half as a 40-20 lead reflected the story of the game after two quarters.
“After we got settled into the flow of the game I thought we did well,” second-year head coach Nick Lusk said. “We just get flustered at some points and need to bring ourselves back down a little bit.”
Helping UHS get into the flow of the game was the bench players. Through the third quarter, the Hawks bench players were 10-for-19 from the field with 24 points combined.
Sophomore Julia Maisel scored 11 points off of the bench while shooting 5-for-7 from the field. Lusk credits the depth of his team as something that they will see as an advantage going forward.
“That’s a huge key for us this year, we are so deep,” Lusk said of his roster this year. “Julia [Maisel] comes in and plays really well, Lyla Byers who started last year has come off the bench early this year. Once they get into the flow of the game it’s great for us. We have a lot of players that can come in and make an impact.”
Hannah Stemple led all scorers with 16, while Ella Simpson contributed 14 of her own. Ashley Weaver joined the double-digit scorers with 10 to help lead the Hawks to a 70-38 victory.
UHS will play Kennedy Catholic on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in the BFS tipoff classic.
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Morgantown 51, Kennedy Catholic 30
MHS 12 10 18 11 – 51
KC 7 5 8 10 – 30
MHS – Bechtel 9 0-0 12; Jordan 14 1-4 11; Henkins 6 0-0 8; Smith 6 0-0 5; Hawkins 3 0-1 5; Chipps 3 0-0 4; Wassick 3 0-0 4; Howell 2 0-0 2
KC – Fields 4 5-8 7; Vincent 12 4-4 7; Dancak 4 2-7 6; Bianco 5 3-4 5; Magestro 7 0-0 3; Suhar 4 0-0 2
3pt. Goals: MHS 6 (Henkins 2; Bechtel 2; Smith 1; Hawkins 1). KC 2 (Vincent 1; Magestro 1)
University 70, Albert-Gallatin 38
UHS 19 21 21 9 – 70
AGHS 12 8 6 12 – 38
UHS – Stemple 13 1-2 16; Simpson 14 0-0 14; Maisel 7 0-1 11; Weaver 9 0-0 10; Sharkey 4 0-0 4; Simpson 5 0-0 4; Antonini 4 2-2 4; Johnson 2 1-2 3; Byers 3 0-0 2; Alexander 2 0-0 2
AGHS – Turner 15 3-6 11; Michaux 8 2-3 10; Panos 9 3-4 9; Glisan 8 0-1 8
3pt. Goals: UHS 8 (Stemple 3; Simpson 2; Weaver 2; Maisel 1). AGHS 2 (Glisan 2).
