CHARLESTON – Morgantown High sophomore Sydney Deusenberry knew she would need to step up where her team needed her most in Thursday’s Class AAAA state quarterfinals in Charleston.
She did nothing short of that for the 3rd-seeded Mohigans, who advanced to the Class AAAA semifinals with a 56-42 wire-to-wire victory over the 6-seed Cabell Midland.
Deusenberry finished Thursday’s contest with a double-double of 11 points and 11 rebounds, adding six assists and three steals as well. Junior Carper Messerly scored a team-high 13 points, with three 3-pointers, seven rebounds, and a trio of assists.
With the victory, Morgantown advances to Friday night’s Class AAAA semifinal round against No. 2 Parkersburg.
“This is the most resilient group of kids I’ve ever been around,” MHS head coach John Fowkes said. “There’s no giving up when it comes to their mentality, and they refuse to quit. We withstood a run and were able to grow the lead back to double figures and never looked back after that.”
The Mohigans jumped out to an early 10-0 lead right out of the gate in the opening quarter, and led 15-4 after the first eight minutes. Messerly scored 8 of her 13 points, including two of her three 3-pointers in the game, in the frame.
The advantage grew to 15 by halftime, as MHS continued its relentless defense in the second quarter, leading 27-12 at the break.
The Knights came out of the locker room looking like a completely different team, matching the Mohigans’ start to the game with a 10-0 run of their own to open the second half, and cutting the MHS lead to only five, 27-22.
“They went on that run, and I elected not to call a timeout because I believe in order to win this whole thing, we have to play through that,” Fowkes said. “We withstood that run, and I’m so proud of this group for how they responded.”
Freshman Maddie Ancell (11) and junior Maliyah Young (10) also contributed double-figures for MHS in the victory. Young converted all four of her shot attempts and pulled down four massive rebounds.
MHS won the turnover battle 16-5.
BOX SCORE
Morgantown 56, Cabell Midland 42
CMHS 4 8 15 15 – 42
MHS 15 12 12 17 – 56
Cabell Midland (16-7) – Kelly 8 0-3 16 Guilliams 3 2-2 8 Smith 3 1-2 7 McGuire 2 1-3 5 Day 1 0-3 2 Chapman 1 0-0 2 Noe 1 0-2 2 TOTALS 19 4-12 42
Morgantown (16-7) – Messerly 5 0-0 13 Ancell 3 3-6 11 Deusenberry 5 0-0 11 Young 4 2-6 10 Tingler 3 0-0 6 Clinton 2 1-2 5 TOTALS 22 6-14 56
3pt goals made – Morgantown 6 (Messerly 3 Ancell 2 Deusenberry 1); Cabell Midland 0.
