MORGANTOWN — A heavyweight bout was held inside the Rowdie Center at Morgantown High School on Tuesday night as the No. 1 Morgantown Mohigans hosted the No. 2 Wheeling Park Patriots in a rematch of last season’s Class AAAA girls’ basketball state championship game.
The first meeting of the 2023-24 season went to the hosts as a solid defensive effort combined with a physical offensive approach worked well for the Mohigans (6-0) in a 72-63 triumph.
“I thought the girls maintained composure well there in the fourth quarter,” MHS head coach Doug Goodwin said. “We got in our help defense a little better and rebounded well down the stretch. Paige Smith had a few big boards there in the end and overall I just thought we got a little more patient.”
MHS made 29 field goals as a team but none from beyond the three-point line. Senior forward Lily Jordan led all scorers with 21 points in the contest, shooting 9 for 18 from the field and 3 for 4 from the charity stripe. MHS freshman Kayli Kellogg added 17 of her own.
The Patriots (4-2) were led in scoring by junior guard Alexis Bordas with 20 points, followed by fellow junior Lala Woods’16.
The two teams will meet again on Jan. 23 inside The Palace on the Hill at Wheeling Park High School.
MHS junior Sadaya Jones picked up her second foul midway through the first quarter but the hosts were able to hold a slight advantage at 14-12 after the opening eight minutes. Multiple ties and lead changes matched the quick pace of the game while each team saw four different scorers in the frame.
The Patriots struggled to score to begin the second and didn’t find their first points until the 4:03 mark, opening the door for MHS to extend the lead to multiple possessions. But just as quickly as they had built the lead to eight points, 31-23, the Mohigans gave up five quick points in the final minute of the half and WP saw itself within three points 31-28 at the break.
“That second quarter we were in some foul trouble but our bench did tremendously,” Goodwin said. “With Emma Howell and Lucy Hatcher doing a great job for us I thought the second quarter kept us in it, we didn’t lose any ground which I thought was key.”
MHS opened the third quarter with another quick run that built a nine-point lead, but the Patriots refused to go away, and once again used a strong ending to the quarter to shrink the gap to 48-43.
Every time WP seemed to be gaining momentum to take a lead the Mohigans would deny the chance. Multiple times, the Patriots were trailing with a chance to take the lead but were shut down by the MHS defense.
“We handled adversity really well tonight, Wheeling Park is a great team,” Jordan said after her 21-point effort. “That’s something we carried over from last year and want to do well this year. We really have to stay together through the ups and downs and be leaders and calm each other down.”
With 2:26 left to go in the game, Bordas cut the deficit to 60-52 with a three-point play, but a 24-point fourth quarter for MHS didn’t allow the Patriots to get any closer than eight points in the fourth quarter as MHS rebounded and made free throws down the stretch for a 72-63 victory.
The Mohigans stay at home to host Bridgeport on Friday.
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 72, Wheeling Park 63
WP 12 16 15 20 – 63
MHS 14 17 17 24 – 72
MHS (6-0) — Jordan 9 3-4 21, Kellogg 7 3-3 17, Wassick 5 1-4 13, Smith 4 1-2 9, Jones 2 4-7 8, Hatcher 2 0-1 4.
WHEELING PARK (4-2) — Bordas 5 7-7 20, Woods 6 2-2 16, Huffman 3 2-3 9, Daugherty 4 0-2 8, Heller 3 0-0 6, Delk 1 2-2 4.
3-Pt. Goals — Wheeling Park 6 (Bordas 3, Woods 2, Huffman 1).
