MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown struggled to slow Southern Garrett (Md.) throughout the opening quarter of Thursday’s matchup at MHS.
While the Mohigans defended better over the remaining three quarters, they often had a tough time cracking the Rams themselves.
In turn, Southern made its 23-point opening frame hold up as the Rams played with a lead for the entirety of the last three quarters and held off a Mohigans’ fourth-quarter rally for a 55-48 victory.
“I’m not upset with our team. We can grow from that loss,” Morgantown head coach John Fowkes said. “That’s cliche stuff, but we found out a lot about who we are tonight.”
Southern, the Class A runner-up in Maryland each of the last two seasons, was especially efficient in the opening frame and assisted eight of its 10 field goals, which came on 14 attempts.
“They responded really well. We share the basketball really well and assist 75 to 80 percent of our baskets,” Rams’ head coach Landon Todd said. “The first quarter was good evidence of that.”
Jayden Weaver’s transition layup gave the Rams (3-2) a 5-4 lead after the Mohigans (4-1) had scored the first four points, and the visitors were in front to stay.
Weaver scored six of her team’s first 11 points and eight altogether in the opening period, including a jumper that allowed her team to lead 20-14. Reese Sisler followed with a three-pointer to leave MHS with a nine-point deficit through one quarter.
“I don’t know the last time Morgantown girls gave up 23 in a quarter. That wasn’t us,” Fowkes said.
Kelsey Ward’s second-quarter layup left Southern with a 29-18 advantage for its first double-figure lead. Weaver followed with a transition layup for the largest margin of the opening half, though the Mohigans outscored the Rams 7-3 over the remainder of the half to enter the intermission with a 34-25 deficit.
Weaver was 5 for 5 from the field to aid her team’s 13 for 22 shooting through the first two quarters.
A conventional three-point play from freshman Ava Clinton enabled Morgantown to cut its deficit to 38-32 at the 4:43 mark of the third, but a pivotal stretch followed where Rams’ guard Emelee Parks made a leaner and trey on consecutive possessions after she’d missed her first six shots.
That helped Southern lead 49-36 after three, but there were tense times down the stretch after the Mohigans ran off seven straight points early in the fourth to get to within eight at 51-43. That stretch featured Alyssa Tingler’s follow-up basket, a Brenna Nelson three and Sydney Deusenberry’s transition layup.
“You don’t win a state championship in December and we’re trying to get this young team better,” Fowkes said. “At times, we look like we wish we had Kayli to bail us out, and we don’t. We have to grow.”
A triple from freshman Maddie Ancell with 3:35 left, combined with Deusenverry’s layup off a steal 1 minute later, brought the Mohigans to within five — the closest they’d been since it was 18-14.
But Morgantown turned it over on its following possession, the start of a stretch of several empty possessions down the stretch that prevented Fowkes’ team from getting any closer.
“We fought back and got it to five, and then we throw it out of bounds,” Fowkes said. “That’s just growing up. I believe in this group and I believe we’re going to do great things. Just because you lose to another team that played for a state championship last year doesn’t mean you’re terrible.”
Weaver’s layup with 1:57 left marked the final points. She shot 7 for 8 and scored 14 points.
Basket from Southern Garrett’s Jayden Weaver with just inside 2 minutes remaining that marked the final points in the Rams’ 55-48 win at Morgantown. #wvgirlsbb pic.twitter.com/tuxMnOMr3w
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) December 19, 2025
Joycelyn Ward led Southern with 15 points, eight of which she accounted for in the third quarter. She also had a game-high seven rebounds, keying the Rams to a 25-20 advantage on the boards. Kelsey Ward added nine points with six rebounds and four assists, while Parks led all players with five assists.
Southern made 22-of-39 shots and finished with 20 turnovers, including 14 after halftime.
“There’s a lot of continuity and consistency and that shows in how the girls play,” said Todd, whose team returned four starters from last season.
Ancell’s 11 points led Morgantown. Deusenberry scored 10 and Nelson added nine.
The Mohigans shot 20 for 47 and had 18 turnovers.
“We knew they scored the ball at a very efficient rate coming in,” Todd said. “We knew it was going to have to be a team effort and it was a credit to the girls’ team defense. They rotated extremely well and talked well. There were a couple possessions when Morgantown went 40, 50 or 60 seconds and made us work our butt off.”