MORGANTOWN – The Morgantown and University High School girls’ basketball teams met for the third time this season on Monday night as the two sides matched up in the semifinals of the 5A OVAC tournament.
The hosting Mohigans made it three wins in a row against their crosstown rivals with a 62-45 victory. They will play for the title on Saturday against Steubenville at noon in St. Clairsville, Ohio. The Big Red defeated Wheeling Park 44-41 at the buzzer to advance to the championship.
MHS (12-2) was led in scoring by sophomore Kayli Kellogg, with a game-high 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting, including four triples.
Senior Sadaya Jones contributed a double-double of 18 points and 15 rebounds while dishing five assists.
Seniors Hannah Stemple and Alexa Johnson scored 11 points each to lead UHS (10-6). The team will have a week off before traveling to the eastern panhandle on Feb 14 and 15 to play Martinsburg and Washington.
“We feel that didn’t execute how we wanted to defensively the last time we played UHS,” MHS head coach John Fowkes said of a 66-62 victory against the Hawks on Jan 23. “We felt more prepared defensively this time, hedging on the ball screens, putting some pressure on them, and making them play 84 feet, using our depth to our advantage.”
MHS held the Hawks to 17 of 48 (35%) from the field, including 3 of 18 from three-point range, and won the rebounding battle 35-17.
“We couldn’t make shots and give their defense (MHS) some credit; they played hard,” UHS head coach Nick Lusk said. “We talk about defense winning games, but you can’t win games if you don’t put the ball in the basket. We’ve been rebounding recently, but we didn’t do that at all tonight.”
Kellogg opened the contest with a triple to begin the first quarter that saw multiple lead changes throughout.
MHS took a one-possession lead into the second, 13-11, and used a 13-1 run through most of the frame to pull away from the Hawks.
UHS scored four quick points to end the half, but the damage was done: The hosts led 29-16 at the break. Jones nearly matched the Hawks in rebounds at halftime.
“Sadaya is on a mission this season,” Fowkes said. “She wants to help this team win every game. She wants to win the OVAC title, lead her team to Charleston, and win a state championship. She doesn’t have that under her belt yet and is determined to do whatever it takes to help her team get the job done. She is a great leader that younger players look up to and is tough to contain on the court.”
UHS cut the lead to a dozen in the third but wouldn’t come any closer to the lead as the Mohigans won the final frame 20-15.
“Every time we had that chance tonight, they made the plays,” Lusk said. “We held them to less points this game than last time, but we scored 62 that game. We won’t win many games scoring in the 40’s against teams like Morgantown.”
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 62, University 45
UHS 11 5 14 15 – 45
MHS 13 16 13 20 – 62
University (10-6) – Stemple 3 3-4 11 Simpson 2 2-2 6 Maisel 4 1-1 10 Johnson 5 1-2 11 Fox 2 1-1 5 Vanscoy 1 0-0 2
Morgantown (12-2) – Kellogg 8 0-2 20 Jones 7 4-7 18 Deusenberry 0 2-2 2 DeVries 3 1-1 9 Nelson 4 0-0 10 Hatcher 1 1-1 3
3-point goals made – University 3 (Stemple 2 Maisel 1); Morgantown 8 (Kellogg 4 DeVries 2 Nelson 2).
