MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Morgantown watched a 13-point second-quarter lead nearly disappear before closing out University and sweeping the regular season series with the Hawks, 66-39. MHS defeated UHS on Bakers Ridge, 70-31 on December 10.
Both teams are now 10-4.
The Mohigans built a 19-6 lead at the end of the first quarter. The Hawks trimmed their deficit to seven points at halftime (27-20) and they crept within a point twice midway through the third. However, MHS closed the frame on a 14-2 burst and they kept a double-digit advantage throughout the fourth quarter.
“Our youthful team, you go up 19-6 in the first quarter and we kind of let off the brakes with our defense. Part of it might be my fault. We went to a zone press, went to a little zone there and our man-to-man was pretty good in the first quarter full court,” said Morgantown head coach John Fowkes.
“What keyed that run in the third quarter was our defense. We play defense, we get after it and we score. People try to slow us down and we kind of struggle in the half court offense.”
Freshman guard Madison Ancell sparked Morgantown’s run in the third quarter, going on a personal 9-0 run with three consecutive triples. 19 of her game-best 25 points came after halftime.
“She picks us up a lot with hitting those threes. As a young kid, she wants the ball in those situations. She is going to be a special one here at Morgantown High. The team kind of builds energy off those threes. You see the bench getting into it. When they are out there slapping high fives, it changes the whole dynamic of our defense around too.”
Maliyah Young was Morgantown’s other player to reach double digits. She scored a dozen points and controlled the glass in the second half.
“She provides a huge edge. In the fourth quarter and towards the end of the third, they didn’t have an answer for her. We talked about that in practice yesterday in our scout that she could get a lot of offensive rebounds. She did that in the fourth quarter.”
MHS is 3-2 since losing standout junior guard Brenna Nelson to injury.
“The first couple of times out there without Brenna, it was tough because we looked for her to score. Now, it is kind of like Madi has filled her shoes. [Sydney] Deuesenberry has taken the role of scoring a little bit more. Maliyah has stepped in pretty huge the last three games in picking up some points.”
Bri Fox led University with 20 points.