Gallery by Tina Laney
Charleston – Defending state champion Morgantown looked like a team that knew what to expect from the jump in the Charleston Coliseum.
Greenbrier East’s young squad did not and figured it out too late.
The Mohigans raced out to a 25-10 halftime lead and maintained their cushion throughout the second half of a 47-31 victory over the Spartans Tuesday morning in the Class AAAA quarterfinals at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The reliable pillars of rebounding and defense favored Morgantown early as East finished 2 of 19 from the field in the first half and yielded nine offensive boards. At one point the Mohigans led 13-3 in the rebounding battle.
“We did it and we practiced and practiced and practiced on two things,” East head coach and W.Va Governor Jim Justice said. “That was one, getting back and the other was everybody on our team getting onto the glass because we knew of their physicality and we knew what to expect and we just, we just couldn’t handle it. That’s all there is to it. I mean, say what you want. They tried to and we just couldn’t handle it. You know, they’re a strong bunch of kids that have plenty of speed. And that rebounding was just, it was just really, really terrible on our side.”
East’s fortunes didn’t seem as dim early as it drew blood first when Ava Workman finished on a layup. A 5-0 spurt from the Mohigans served as a response before Kennedy Stewart ripped a deep 3 to knot the game for East at the 5:28 mark of the first quarter.
That turned out to be the last field goal to fall for East until Workman converted on another layup in the third quarter. The other five points in between came from the free throw line for East.
Morgantown trudged through its own struggles, converting on 11 of 31 shot attempts (35 percent) in the first half but its effort on the boards made up for those shortcomings. The Mohigans turned those nine first-half offensive rebounds into 10 second-chance points.
“We preach all the time about being 50-50 on the rebounds and put backs,” Morgantown head coach Doug Goodwin said. “I think we only ended up out-rebounding them by two by the end of this game but we told them at halftime that they’re going to make runs on us, you know they’re going to make runs. Kennedy was going to come out and she’s going to shoot so we’ve got to be ready for those kinds of things. Be ready for the deep ball coming off the rim when she’s deep shooting. Yeah, I thought the girls just did a great job and it does help create that cushion for sure.”
The Spartans refocused and looked like a completely different team out of the half, scoring 17 points in the third quarter alone. But playing catchup, they never mustered enough stops to cut the deficit below 10 and trailed by 12 after three quarters.
“We woke up and we realized that we can actually play here and it’s just not just a place you go and watch games,” Stewart said of East’s second-half charge. “We hit some shots because well, we shot some shots. We didn’t really get to shoot a lot in the first half.”
Kayli Kellog led the charge for Morgantown with a game-high 21 points. Stewart led East with 11 points while Hannah Fuller grabbed 12 rebounds.
Aside for Josie Banton, East is slated to return the entirety of its roster including Justice who is projected as the favorite to replace Senator Joe Manchin in the United State Senate.
“I’m going to someway, somehow (coach),” Justice said. “Listen, I hate to say this, but, you know, I’ll do the job. I’ll do the job as far as being a senator if that works out that way, but I’m gonna coach.”
Morgantown advances to the Class AAAA semifinals where it will face the winner of George Washington-Musselman on Friday at 1 p.m.
