MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown girls’ basketball team wrapped up the regular season in impressive fashion Wednesday, defeating Buckhannon-Upshur 56-30 inside the Rowdie Center at MHS. It was the sixth win in a row for the No. 2 Mohigans, who finish the regular season at 18-4, and their 15th win in the last 16 games.
Morgantown opened the game with a nine-point run against the Buccaneers (11-10) and led 15-5 at the end of the first quarter.
“I thought the girls got off to a much better start tonight than we did Friday evening against Cameron,” MHS coach Doug Goodwin said. “We had some good, open looks we knocked down.”
The Mohigans’ stout defense gave their visitors fits throughout the night as BU only scored five points in the first quarter and three in the third. Five of the Buccaneers’ 15 first-half points came from the foul line.
BU ran a motion offense, but MHS was quick to double-team the ball-handler and rarely got caught chasing the ball.
“We played well defensively,” Goodwin said. “We didn’t get stuck on too many things, we got off when we needed to and we didn’t always trail. Most of the time, we got down and helped and kept that at bay.
“We were definitely trying not to chase (Wednesday). A couple of times we let that happen but overall, I thought we did a really nice job of getting off of that and getting help.”
Morgantown led 30-15 at the break and held BU scoreless for the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter.
“They were very active, pressuring all night and we just didn’t handle it (Wednesday),” BU coach Rob Kittle said. “We didn’t execute on the offensive end and we let them kind of bully us.
“It definitely wasn’t our night. We’ve got to get a lot better and a lot tougher to play at this level.”
Offensively, the Mohigans focused on moving the ball against Buckhannon’s zone defense. Junior center Lily Jordan was often the benefactor of such movement, finishing with a game-high 19 points.
“She’s taking advantage of the opportunities they give you,” Goodwin said. “I’ve told her when she’s quick on the catch to go by (her defender) good things happen for her. She’s just gotten herself in really good position to finish lately.”
The ball movement also opened up open shots on the perimeter as MHS made seven triples. Mia Henkins hit three treys to finish with nine points while Revaya Sweeney and Abby Smith each hit two to score six points apiece.
“On the offensive side, we work on moving that ball and not getting stuck,” Goodwin said. “We’re either attacking the gap or making that next pass.”
Lindsey Bechtel finished with eight points for the victors while Kate Hawkins led the team with nine rebounds.
Kendal Currance led Buckhannon-Upshur with 13 points and Kenna Maxwell had 10.
Both teams move into sectional play now as MHS will host John Marshall next Tuesday and BU will travel to Bridgeport on Wednesday.
Morgantown 56, Buckhannon-Upshur 30
BU 5 10 3 12 — 30
MHS 15 15 16 10 — 56
BU — Abel 1 0-0 2; Maxwell 3 2-3 10; Parke 1 0-0 2; Currance 3 6-6 13; Smith 1 0-0 3.
Morgantown — Wassick 1 0-0 2; Jordan 7 5-6 19; Henkins 3 0-0 9; Bechtel 4 0-1 8; Hawkins 1 2-2 4; Sweeney 2 0-0 6; A. Smith 2 0-0 6; Anderson 1 0-0 2.
3 Pt. Goals — Buckhannnon-Upshur 4 (Maxwell 2, Currance 1, Smith 1. Morgantown 7 (Henkins 3, Sweeney 2, A. Smith 2).
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