MORGANTOWN — When the Morgantown High girls’ basketball team needed a bucket on Thursday night, the Mohigans turned to what could be an unlikely source – a freshman.
The Mohigans led rival University High, 29-28, with 4:12 left in the third quarter. That’s when freshman Maddie Ancell took over.
The youngster scored 12 points during a 14-2 MHS run to catapult Morgantown High past the Hawks, 66-39.
“She’s a freshman but in basketball age she’s not a freshman,” MHS head coach John Fowkes said. “She has put a lot of time into the game even after practice. I’ll get a text and someone will say she’s at the rec center or she’ll be out working with Nate Smith. She just loves basketball. It’s all the kid really cares about is basketball, school, and her family. That’s a coach’s favorite kind of player.”
Ancell finished with a game-high 25 points including four 3-pointers in the MHS victory. The Mohigans have not lost to University in nearly five years. The last Hawks’ win in the series came in February of 2021.
“It’s a crosstown rival and you don’t want to lose to them,” Fowkes said. “I went to Morgantown High. I didn’t like UHS when I went to school here. It’s a rival and it’s just that way. It’s like Pitt and West Virginia to me, it really is.”
Morgantown (10-3) raced out to an early 19-6 lead after one quarter as the Mohigans forced UHS (10-4) into seven first quarter turnovers. However, UHS found its rhythm in the second quarter.
Whitney Cox scored seven points in the quarter as University cut the MHS lead to 27-20 at halftime.
University’s Briana Cox led a 9-2 run capped by a 3-pointer at the 4:12 mark in the third quarter before Ancell started her flurry of shots.
“I wasn’t really thinking about anything, I was just shooting,” Ancell said about her three straight 3-pointers that effectively put the game away.
After Ancell stretched the UHS defense with her outside shooting it was junior Maliyah Young who went to work on the interior. She scored six points in the fourth quarter to finish with 12 for the game.
“I think that is really hard for a defense to defend,” Ancell said. “We stretch the floor and then Maliyah can score inside.”
Ancell’s scoring is a welcome sight for MHS as it continues to deal with injury issues on the roster.
“We haven’t really told (Maddie) that she needs to step up,” Fowkes said. “I think she knows that. She’s just a scorer. She’s a natural scorer and it’s not just three pointers. She can take you off the dribble and she’ll hit the mid-range. She has a complete game and she’s only 14 or 15 years old.”
Morgantown returns to action on Friday Jan. 30 when it hosts Parkersburg. University, which was led by Fox’s 20 points, travels to Steubenville on Thursday, Jan. 29.
— Story by Eric Herter
Box score
UHS 6 14 10 9 – 39
MHS 19 8 16 23 – 66
UHS – Vanscoy 2 1-3 5, Campbell 0 1-2 1, Cox 1 4-4 7, Fox 9 0-0 20, Hall 3 0-1 6. Totals: 15 6-10 39.
MHS – Deusenberry 4 0-0 9, Clinton 3 0-0 8, Ancell 9 3-3 25, Messerly 3 0-0 8, Young 6 0-0 12, 1 2-3 4. Totals: 26 5-6 66.
3-Pointers – UHS: Cox, Fox 2. MHS: Deusenberry, Clinton 2, Ancell 4, Messerly 2.
