CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The South Charleston girls basketball team handed Morgantown its first loss in over a year on Wednesday as Taliah Cashwell hit a game-winning 3 in the closing seconds to give the Black Eagles a 46-45 win over the two-time defending Class AAA state champions.
“Aaliyah Dunham went to the basket and she missed,” Taliah said after the game on the MetroNews High School Sportsline. “Rhea (Smith) quickly got the rebound and found me somehow. I just knew I had to get (the shot) up really quick. I was in shock at first, but when everyone started jumping around me, it hit me that I had hit the shot.”
Cashwell led South Charleston (14-2) with 19 points in the win on 7 of 16 shooting while Dunham added 14 points.
It was the first loss for Morgantown (18-1) since February 3, 2015 when the Mohigans fell to Parkersburg South.
Morgantown led 23-7 after the first quarter on Wednesday, but managed to score just 22 points in the final three quarters combined at the Charleston Civic Center.
“We were pretty prepared. We went through scouting reports and watched film on them,” Cashwell said. “We had to protect the basket because they had a big size advantage against us. We had to watch the screen-and-rolls and not let them get to the basket.
“People have just been congratulating me on social media and texting me. It’s a pretty good feeling,” Cashwell said. “I just think that nobody should take any team for granted. Anybody can beat everybody if the effort is there and the execution, doing the little things.”
The complete interview with Cashwell is posted at the top of the page.
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