2026 Battle for the Springhouse: Morgantown rallies to beat Parkersburg

Lady Mohigans avenge the regular season loss to the Lady Big Reds with a 54-45 win at The Greenbrier

White Sulphur Springs - The Battle for the Springhouse opened Friday with a Class AAAA top-four showdown between No. 3 Parkersburg and No. 4 Morgantown.

In a back-and-forth contest, the Lady Mohigans avenged its loss earlier in the season to the Lady Big Reds with a 54-45 win.

Morgantown advances to the girls championship game Saturday night at 7 p.m. against the winner of Greenbrier East and Riverside.

Parkersburg will play the loser at 1 p.m. in the consolation game.

The Lady Big Reds took the early first quarter lead, 18-11, behind six points each from Lauren Flanagan and Frances Guice.

Period two, however, belong fully to the Lady Mohigans.

Morgantown opened the quarter on a 7-0 run and never looked back.

The Lady Mohigans went on to hold Parkersburg to just one point while pouring in 19 points, building a 30-19 lead at the break.

Six points each from Ava Clinton and Maddie Ancell keyed the comeback.

Over the first two quarters, the Lady Big Reds committed 13 turnovers which turned into 18 points for the Lady Mohigans.

Parkersburg answered the bell and roared back to trim the deficit to 36-35 after three quarters before regaining the lead at 41-39 on a basket from Kennedy Porter.

The advantage was short-lived however, thanks to an 11-0 run by the Lady Mohigans.

Ava Clinton tied the game ahead of two 3-pointers from Carper Messerly and the run was capped by another triple from Sydney Deusenberry for a 50-41 lead.

The Lady Big Reds threatened to make a come back with a 5-0 run, but Morgantown slammed the door, holding Parkersburg scoreless over the final 90 seconds of the contest.

Clinton scored 13 points, while Messerly added 11 and had eight rebounds. Deusenberry scored 10.

Guice paced Parkersburg with 15 points, while Flanagan had 12. Porter scored 10 and grabbed nine rebound

Morgantown head coach John Fowkes discussed the win over Parkersburg,