CHARLESTON – The Morgantown High girls basketball team threw its share of quality punches against Parkersburg on Friday night inside the Charleston Coliseum as the two sides met for the third time this season in the Class AAAA state semifinals.
Unfortunately for the Mohigans, the second-seeded Big Reds hit a little bit harder en route to a 56-51 victory over MHS.
Parkersburg will battle crosstown rival Parkersburg South Saturday night for the Class AAAA state championship.
Morgantown’s season came to a close with a record of 16-7.
“First of all, that’s the way semifinal Friday is supposed to look, that was a heck of a ball game between two teams who are growing a bit of a friendly rivalry,” MHS head coach John Fowkes said. “I think experience got us a little bit tonight. They (Parkersburg) have four seniors, and we are very young. But this group of kids we have, and what they’ve meant to this old guy, is difficult to put into words. I’m an emotional fella, and it’s because of these kids. I was upset in the hallway, but once I got into the locker room, we ended up laughing, and that’s how it’s been all season.”
Parkersburg senior Kennedy Porter scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed 14 rebounds as well. She was joined by Lauren Flanagan (13) and Frances Guice (11) in double figures.
Morgantown senior Alyssa Tingler led her team with 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting in her final game as a Mohigan. Junior Carper Messerly scored 11 with a trio of 3-pointers.
Parkersburg entered the locker room leading by five, 29-24, but held a lead as large as nine points in the first half of the contest.
The Mohigans battled to a one-point deficit with a jumper by Leyton Balderson late in the third, but Porter converted a lay-in as the clock expired to grow the lead back to three, 42-39
Maddie Ancell opened the fourth quarter with a jumper that was answered by Porter, before Messerly nailed her third triple of the night to tie the game at 44.
But the Big Reds went on a quick 6-0 run to grow a two-possession lead, and the Mohigans couldn’t make up the difference in time as Parkersburg escaped with a 56-51 semifinal win.
“They present a matchup problem for us with Lucy Cline and Porter, but I think we had a good matchup with our speed and the way we play,” Fowkes said. “All credit to our girls, they worked their butts off for this old guy this season.”
The Mohigans will say goodbye to lone senior Alyssa Tingler, who stepped up for MHS in a big way this campaign after no varsity experience prior to the season.
“This girl beside me,” said Fowkes, pointing to Tingler. “The summer I was ready to take the job, she was coming off an injury, and we took notice of how hard she was playing on JV and had a stellar season. She worked so hard all year, and that just explains the kind of kids that we have.”
BOX SCORE
Parkersburg 56, Morgantown 51
MORG 11 13 15 12 – 51
PARK 16 13 13 14 – 56
Morgantown (16-7) – Tingler 6 0-0 12 Messerly 3 2-2 11 Young 4 0-1 8 Ancell 2 2-2 7 Clinton 1 4-4 6 Deusenberry 1 3-9 5 Balderson 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 18 11-18 51
Parkersburg (18-6) – Porter 5 4-5 14 Flanagan 4 3-5 13 Guice 5 1-3 11 Butcher 3 3-4 9 Cline 2 0-0 5 Lewis 1 0-0 2 Debord 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 21 11-17 56
3pt goals made – Morgantown 4 (Messerly 3 Ancell 1); Parkersburg 3 (Flanagan 2 Cline 1).
