MORGANTOWN – Through the opening two games of the 2024 season, Morgantown High School duo Sadaya Jones and Kayli Kellogg have combined for 101 points.
Thursday night, Kellogg dropped 31 points and Jones 20, combining for 51 points in a rout of Parkersburg South 95-32. 24 hours later, the returning all-state pair combined for 50 more as the sophomore Kellogg scored 27 against the Cougars, with Jones adding 23 as MHS defended its home court 88-30.
Sophomore Tatum DeVries added 15 points on Friday, joining her teammates in double figures for first-year head coach John Fowkes and his crew as the Mohigans improved to 2-0 early in the season.
“The thing I’m most proud of about tonight is that we pressed for four quarters yesterday against Parkersburg South, then turned around 24 hours later and did it again,” Fowkes said. “That takes physical toughness but also mental toughness. That’s our game and that’s what we want to do. It’s what we practice, and the kids go out and make a great effort to play hard.”
The Mohigans (2-0) were on the move early and often Friday night, scoring the first nine points of the game in the first two minutes of the first quarter.
The Cougars finished the opening eight minutes strong with a flurry of baskets, but MHS led 28-12 after one frame.
A 12-4 run to begin the second quarter gave MHS a 40-16 lead, but the Mohigans continued the effort mentioned by Fowkes and continued to put the ball in the basket. Nine different scorers contributed to the cause in the victory.
The Mohigans led 55-19 at the break.
MHS made eight triples in the game, with four coming from DeVries’ hands. She shot 4 of 6 from long range against Jefferson on Friday night.
“We know scoring is one of our main strengths on this team,” Fowkes said. “We have shooters all over the floor, and you saw that tonight. Tatum had a great game tonight after struggling a little in our first game and working out the nerves. We even missed her a few times when she could’ve had open shots. As long as we move the ball, we will eventually find an open shooter with the confidence that they’ll knock it down.”
Jones opened the third quarter with a personal 6-0 run that included two tough layups and multiple offensive rebounds she battled for.
Jones, a senior, was honored before the game for achieving 1,000 career points in the first quarter on Thursday against Parkersburg South, and for her, it felt a little extra special to reach the milestone in a Morgantown uniform.
“My mother (Kerri Pryor) also played here and scored 1,000 points in her career,” Jones said. “It means the world to me to be able to mark that goal off of my list, and especially to be with this group of girls, some of whom I’ve played with since we were little.”
Pryor is the all-time leading scorer in program history.
The Mohigans will return home on Wednesday evening to host cross-town rival University at 7:30 p.m.
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 28 27 22 11 – 88
Jefferson 12 7 6 5 – 30
Jefferson (0-1) – San Martin 3 0-0 7 Dodson 1 1-2 3 Munslow 2 0-0 4 K Prout 1 0-0 2 Vickers 3 0-0 8 Allen 1 0-0 2 Hoyler 1 0-0 2 Rodriguez 0 2-2 2
Morgantown (2-0) – Kellogg 11 3-4 27 Jones 8 6-6 23 DeVries 5 1-2 15 Hatcher 1 0-0 2 Deusenberry 1 0-0 2 Nelson 2 2-3 6 Porter 2 0-0 4 Messerly 3 0-0 7 Alsop 1 0-0 2
3pt goals made – Jefferson 3 (Vickers 2 San Martin 1); Morgantown 8 (DeVries 4 Kellogg 2 Jones 1 Messerly 1)
