MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Despite a 15-3 record and being ranked in the top-5 in Class AAAA, there was a sense of doubt in the back of the minds of the Morgantown Mohigans.
That doubt came from Wheeling Park’s two convincing wins over Morgantown in the regular season, but it was erased Saturday and replaced with a boosted confidence that could help lead Morgantown back to the state tournament in Charleston.
The Mohigans defeated top-ranked Wheeling Park 59-49 Saturday in the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference 5A Championship Game.
“Before there was some doubt about that, but now that we’ve beat the number one team, we just have to get out there and do it again,” said senior Mia Henkins. “Now we know that we can beat anyone in AAAA. We just have to keep at it and continue with the good defense and shooting throughout the rest of the season.”
It’s not as though Morgantown came into the game unconfident. The Mohigans advanced to the state title game last season, falling just short against Huntington, 41-36. Before Saturday, MHS had won eight of its last nine, with its only loss during that stretch coming to Wheeling Park.
“This team doesn’t lack for confidence,” MHS head coach Doug Goodwin said with a grin. “They come in every day working hard and it’s paying off for us right now.”
That confidence has been obvious on the court. In the OVAC semifinal, Henkins went 8 for 10 from long range and scored a career-high 24 points. That carried over into Saturday, when Henkins stroked four more from outside, including three three-pointers in the second half. The performance earned her Most Valuable Player Honors for the game.
“We finally put the four quarters together that we were looking to against them,” Henkins said.
Morgantown has established an unselfish attitude that makes it tough for the opposition to key in on one player.
“We’ve been sharing the ball extremely well, cutting well and seeing the open girl,” explained senior Lindsey Bechtel. “Mia, when she hits that three, you know she’s going to hit more.”
Bechtel was the beneficiary in the OVAC semifinals when she went 8 for 8 from the floor and scored 16 points. On Saturday, junior Lily Jordan took advantage of the attention the outside shooters were drawing, fighting her way in the paint for 15 points. Sofia Wassick and Kate Hawkins were also in double-figures for Morgantown with 11 points and 10 points, respectively.
The offense was a result of the defense, which frustrated Wheeling Park throughout the game. Morgantown held sophomore Alexis Bordas to just two field goals and 11 points on the day, well below her season average of 21.1 points per game.
While, there was an OVAC Championship on the line Saturday, for Morgantown the game was as much about eliminating that nagging doubt that they belonged in the conversation among the top teams in West Virginia.
That doubt was erased.