MORGANTOWN – Morgantown sophomore Lily Jordan led all scorers with 26 points, shooting 12 of 13 from the field and helped her team clinch a berth in the OVAC conference championship as, as the Mohigans beat Warren (Ohio) 68-45 on Monday night inside the Rowdie Center.
WHS (12-6) came into the game with a simple game plan: Dump the ball into Abbie Smith and cause foul trouble for MHS (13-3). Smith scored five early points as the Warriors found themselves within one point going into the second, 11-10.
The second quarter was another story, however, as the Mohigans scored seven quick points. Kate Hawkins paced MHS with seven points. MHS can credit its defense for the quick scoring opportunities, as head coach Jason White applied the press with around 5 minutes to go and switching between man and zone.
“One point game after the first, I thought we needed to do something to change the tempo of the game,” White said. “They were running some really good sets and getting the ball into Abbie Smith and we were getting into some foul trouble.”
The Mohigans did exactly what their coach intended, forcing WHS into multiple turnovers and building their 7-0 run into an eventual 17-2 run. This included a 90-second stretch of back-to-back 3s by Revaya Sweeney and Jordan, then an and-1 play by Sadaya Jones. The Mohigans grew their lead to 20 at halftime, 37-17
“Our kids feed off of that [defense],” White said. “A turnover is just like someone hitting a 3, they want that steal and they want to attack.”
MHS’s 26-point second quarter proved to be the difference maker in the contest , as the third quarter mirrored the first. Both teams came out of halftime slightly cold shooting as MHS continued to switch defenses to confuse WHS. Jordan continued to control the game, even rebounding a missed shot, dribbling the length of the floor and finishing a lay-up around a defender.
“I thought Lily was special tonight, she’s capable of doing that night in and night out,” White said. “She does what her team needs her to do to be successful, tonight that was score the ball.”
The fourth quarter would also be close in itself, but with a 56-33 lead with 4 minutes to go, the Mohigans put the game away.
Jordan led all scorers with 26. Kate Hawkins scored 10 for MHS while Alex Frazee had 22 for Warren.
Morgantown will advance to the OVAC championship against Wheeling Park on Saturday in Ohio. This will be the third meeting this season between MHS and Park as each team won against the other once.
Morgantown (13-3)
Lily Jordan 12 3-4 26 Kate Hawkins 4 3-4 10 Sadaya Jones 8 2-5 9 Meeya Henkins 5 0-0 6 Sophia Wassick 4 1-3 3 Lindsay Bechtel 2 1-2 3 Revaya Sweeney 2 0-0 3 Kerrington Peasak 2 0-0 3 Paige Smith 1 0-0 3
Warren (12-6)
Alex Frazee 19 1-1 22 Abbie Smith 3 7-9 11 Madison Lynn 1 2-2 5 Sarah Petty 0 1-2 1 Sophia Cochran 4 0-0 2 Kelly Jackson 3 0-2 2
MORGANTOWN – 11 26 12 19 – 68
WARREN – 10 7 11 17 – 45
3-pointers: Morgantown 8 (Henkins 2, Sweeney 1, Peasak 1, Hawkins 1, Jordan 1, Smith 1, Jones 1); Warren 4 (Frazee 3, Lynn 1)
