INSTITUTE – Two Class AAAA top 10 girls’ high school basketball teams took center stage on Wednesday’s schedule of games at the Par Mar Stores Shootout.
AP No. 2 George Washington never trailed No. 4 Morgantown in a 63-50 win by the Patriots at Doris W. and Walter F. Johnson III Arena at West Virginia State University.
The victory stretched GW’s winning streak to 15 games heading into Thursday’s contest at Capital.
Finley Lohan scored 19 points to lead the Patriots (16-2). Siya Smith added 14 and Zaniah Zellous scored 11 for head coach Jamie LaMaster’s team.
Lohan said the game was a statement win for her team.
“They’re a really good team,” Lohan said. “We haven’t played them since last year, so I thought it was going to be a good opportunity to see where we were at.”
Morgantown (12-6) was playing without senior forward Lily Jordan who was injured. In her place, Mohigans coach Doug Goodwin said Lucie Hatcher filled in well for Jordan and, despite the loss, felt his team played well against a top-10 opponent.
“I thought they responded really well,” Goodwin said. “I think we were after every doggone 50-50 ball. They never quit.”
The loose balls and turnovers were a point of contention for LaMaster in the way his team played.
Morgantown out-rebounded GW 35-32 for the game but the Mohigans had a clear edge in that category until the fourth quarter.
Additionally, MHS won the turnover battle with 16 to GW’s 22.
“It was a point of emphasis that I thought (Morgantown) was getting to every loose ball,” LaMaster said. “We weren’t very strong with the ball. If it would get bobbled, they were taking it from us.”
George Washington took a 12-2 lead early in the game and by the end of the first period had stretched that advantage to 20-7.
Then the Mohigans got their offense moving after shooting 3 for 17 from the field in the opening eight minutes.
Kayli Kellogg scored seven of her team-high 20 points in the second quarter for Morgantown, but GW held a 30-19 lead at halftime.
The Mohigans got to within eight points following a 6-0 run to start the final period.
A layup by Lohan and a timeout by LaMaster to recompose his team got the Patriots back on track as they outscored Morgantown 13-8 in the final 5:48 of game time.
By RICK ELMORE/Gazette-Mail
BOX SCORE
George Washington 57, Morgantown 43
MHS 7 12 17 18 — 43
GW 21 10 20 13 — 57
GEORGE WASHINGTON — Breckenridge 4-9 0-0 9, Smith 5-8 0-0 14, Pryor 2-7 0-0, Zellous 5-6 5-7 15, Lohan 9-15 0-1 21, Barton 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-46 5-8 63.
MORGANTOWN — Kellogg 9-25 0-0 20, Wassick 0-6 2-2 2, Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Hatcher 6-9 1-2 13, Jones 4-13 1-1 9, Paulson 0-0 1-2 1, Howell 2-9 0-0 5. Totals 21-65 5-7 50.
3-point goals: GW 8-20 (Smith 4-6, Lohan 3-6, Breckenridge 1-3). Morgantown 3-13 (Kellogg 2-7, Howell 1-4).
