CHARLESTON — The Morgantown girls’ basketball team defeated the Wheeling Park Patriots 46-31 in the semifinals of the Class AAAA state tournament Friday night, the fifth meeting between the two teams this season with MHS taking four of the five contests.
To open the game, the Patriots didn’t allow an inch of space for MHS to work with. Natalie Daugherty hit two quick 3-pointers that gave WPHS an early 7-2 lead with 3:42 to play in the first.
The remainder of the quarter saw fast-paced scoring on both ends. MHS had four scorers in the quarter, as well, but four free throws would be the difference at 14-10 in the Patriots favor.
“In the first quarter, everything we spent today talking about defensively, we didn’t do,” MHS head coach Jason White said of his teams effort in the first. “We went back and watched film and tried to critique things that we did well and didn’t do well. We had a little heart-to-heart at the end of the first about our game plan, and hold them to 17 points for the rest of the game.”
The second opened with the Mohigans exploding for a 5-0 scoring run. However, Daugherty would strike again with a lay-up and a foul to regain the lead for her team at 17-15 with five minutes to play in the half. WPHS standout Alexis Bordas also picked up her second personal foul.
The final four minutes of the half felt like an entire game in itself. The quarter saw six lead changes and baskets were traded back and forth every possession. Bench points (11) and shot attempts were the difference for MHS at the half. The Mohigans out-shot the Patriots by 10 attempts in the first half (16 to 26). MHS outscored WPHS 14-8 in the second to take 2-point lead into the locker room 24-22. Lindsay Bechtel for MHS and Daugherty for WPHS led with 10 points each. The Mohigan also held a 19-11 rebounding advantage.
MHS senior Kerrington Peasak opened scoring in the third with a three from the top of the key that gave MHS a 5-point lead at 27-22. Other than a Bordas freethrow, WPHS hadn’t scored a field goal through six minutes. Lala Woods and Bordas were a combined 2 of12 from the field at that point for a total of nine points between the freshmen.
That one point would be all the Patriots would get in the entire quarter, allowing MHS to blow open a double-digit lead after a lay-up by Lily Jordan followed by an offensive charge drawn by Revaya Sweeney, who jumped up in celebration. MHS would lead 33-23 going into the final quarter. Sweeney scored 9 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, and drew a charge in 13 productive minutes.
“What’s going through my mind in the moment is just knowing that the coach and team trust me,” Sweeney said. “I always want to give it my all because I never really know when I’m going to come out.”
Scoring slowed down in the fourth as both teams scored a few baskets. MHS still led by 11 with less than two minutes to play as WPHS began to find itself forced to send MHS to the line. Bechtel hit two free throws for her 13th and 14th point, which led her team. Daugherty hit her fourth triple for her game high 16th point to make the lead 10 at 41-31, but the Mohigans were able to grind out the clock for the 15-point win.
The No. 2 Mohigans will take on No. 1 Huntington for the state championship at 8 p.m. Saturday in Charleston. The Highlanders beat Cabell Midland 58-49 in their semifinals match-up.
