MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown girls’ basketball team defeated University by 17 points 58-41 on Friday at UHS, in a game the Mohigans only led by four at halftime, 31-27.
UHS (5-6) came ready to play from the opening tip and found itself ahead by a score of 7-3 early against the second-ranked Mohigans (12-2). Halfcourt offense was the strength for the Hawks, so MHS coach Jason White applied the press to try and speed up the tempo of the UHS offense. MHS forced a few turnovers and quickly found itself with a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter at 14-13.
The game began to slow down to start the second quarter, with both teams having trouble scoring the ball. Even when they did, the opposition would answer. MHS then turned it on and scored seven unanswered points with just under three minutes to go and found itself ahead, but only by four at the half. MHS was paced by returning sophomore Lily Jordan with 6 of her 12 points coming in the second. She had missed the last four games due to COVID protocols.
Jordan said her time away from the team was difficult but her confidence in her teammates kept her going while she recovered.
“It feels great,” she said. “I’ve taken a strong liking to our team and being away was unfortunate. I just tried to maintain and stay in-shape when I could. I loved the performance of the team while I was away and I love being a part of a team that gives it their all.”
The second half would reveal itself to be very different from the first, with the Mohigans coming out of the locker room with a hot start on offense. White’s team scored the first five points of the third quarter on its way to a 16-2 run. UHS coach Nick Lusk cites his team’s inability to carry momentum out of halftime being a detriment before.
“We’ve had problems with that all year,” he said. “We play well in the first-half, we come out in the third quarter a little flat.”
MHS used the slow start from its opponents in the third to build a sizable lead heading into the final quarter at 49-32. MHS outscored UHS 18-5 in the third.
The fourth quarter was even at 9-9 in score. But the Hawks didn’t have enough to bring the game close again as MHS defeated UHS by a score of 58-41.
White praised his team’s second-half effort, particularly on the defensive end of the court.
“This team is setup to be good defensively,” he said. “We are long, athletic, we had some size and speed also. It gives us the ability to change our defense based on our opponent. We try and take away our opponents’ strengths.”
MHS were paced by Kate Hawkins with 15 points, with Lily Jordan adding 12. White mentioned Hawkins’ ability to not only score the ball, but defend it as well.
“While Kate Hawkins is making shots on offense, it’s really her effort on the defensive end,” White said. “Hannah Stemple can make shots and has had UHS going, and Kate did a great job. She has no idea how good she can really be.”
For UHS, while no one scored in double digits, Hannah Stemple and Aza Boateng each contributed 9 for their team.
MHS will travel to Wheeling Park on Tuesday, while UHS will meet Buckhannon-Upshur on the road.
Morgantown (12-2)
Kate Hawkins 10 0-0 15 Lily Jordan 8 0-4 12 Sadaya Jones 6 2-2 9 Mia Henkins 7 0-0 8 Lindsay Bechtel 4 1-1 8 Sofia Wassick 6 2-2 4 Ravaya Sweeney 4 0-0 2
University (5-6)
Aza Boateng 4 3-4 9 Hannah Stemple 5 1-3 9 Eden Gibson 4 2-2 8 Lauren Dean 2 5-6 7 Emily Sharkey 5 0-0 6 Lyla Byers 6 0-0 2
MORGANTOWN 14 17 18 9 – 58
UNIVERSITY 13 14 5 9 – 41
3-pointers: MHS – 7 (Hawkins 3, Henkins 2, Jones 1); UHS 4 (Gibson 2, Stemple 2)
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