CHARLESTON, W.Va. — John Fowkes holds Morgantown to a certain standard defensively that has helped lead to great success throughout his first season as Mohigans’ head coach.
As the Class AAAA No. 2 Mohigans showed Wednesday in a quarterfinal round clash with No. 7 Washington, they’re plenty capable offensively as well.
Morgantown made 34 field goals, at least six in every quarter, scored 50 paint points and four more than that after halftime to blow by the Patriots 86-54 at the Charleston Coliseum.
“If they don’t show the wide open shot, they’re coming out,” Fowkes said. “If you’re open, shoot it. Why not? You work hard enough on those shots. I feel like it hurts the team if you don’t take a wide open shot. We’re good in transition and a lot of our threes and layups come in transition. We preach to play fast and play hard.”
The 34 field goals and 86 points are Class AAAA state tournament single-game records.
“We have a lot of youth, but also a lot of experience on the basketball court,” Fowkes said.
MHS sophomore guard Kayli Kellogg led her team and all players with 32 points and was equally effective throughout by pouring in 16 in each half.
“It starts on the defensive end. We have tremendous athletes that can help us on offense,” Kellogg said. “We continue to stay locked in knowing our defense will key our offense.“
Kellogg accounted for seven points in the opening quarter, which combined with six from teammate Tatum DeVries and two buckets from Sadaya Jones, helped the Mohigans build a 19-8 lead.
While Fowkes’ team made only 6-of-18 shots in the second quarter, Kellogg accounted for nine of her team’s 13 points that quarter, and WHS was limited to 4-for-12 shooting as it faced a 32-16 halftime deficit.
“We weren’t able to keep her at bay,” Washington head coach Rahsaan Edwards said of Kellogg. “She made a lot of shots today. We had some letdowns in our defensive rotations that didn’t quite bode well for us.”
Lexi Adams, who led the Patriots with 18 points, accounted for half of her team’s offensive output through two quarters.
“I tried to put my head down and get to the rim. That’s what I’m best at,” Adams said.
Facing an uphill battle, Washington’s deficit became 20-plus for the first time on Kellogg’s layup that made it 41-20 at the 5:58 mark of the third.
Kellogg finished with nine points in that quarter, which the Mohigans concluded with a 57-35 advantage.
The Mohigans also got 16 points from Jones and 15 from DeVries, while Brenna Nelson added eight points and six rebounds off the bench.
“With these girls especially, they bring a great environment and a great team to play with,” DeVries said. “They remind us it’s just basketball and it’s still just a game, so play your game.”
Morgantown’s Sydney Desuenberry recorded game-high totals of seven boards and six steals and was a pivotal factor in Washington’s 26 turnovers.
“We’re deeper than a lot of people think we are and tougher than people think we are,” Fowkes said. “They’re good basketball players, but they’re pretty tough.”
In addition to her 18 points, Adams had six assists and four steals.
Timia Perry added 11 points and five rebounds.
Washington shot a plenty respectable 22 for 47 from the field, but attempted 19 fewer shots than the Mohigans.
“We fought hard,” Edwards said, “but weren’t able to come out of it the way we expected to.”