Photo by Kim North Martins Ferry’s Maddie Lucas (12) shots over top of Morgantown’s Sydney Deusenberry (2) during second-half action Monday night inside Tolbert Gymnasium. The Mohigans pulled out a 59-55 victory over the Purple Riders. Lucas had 11 points.

MARTINS FERRY — A pair of OVAC girls’ basketball heavyweights collided Monday night high above the Purple City.

When the dust had settled inside Tolbert Gymnasium, visiting Morgantown (15-2) had escaped the northern panhandle with a cherished, 59-55, victory over Martins Ferry (16-6) before a nice-sized crowd which included West Virginia University head men’s basketball coach Darien DeVries and his son, Tucker. His daughter, Tatum, played for the Mohigans.

“It’s tough to play here. This is our third game in four days and all of them were tough games,” Morgantown head coach John Fowkes said. “We had a couple kids come off the bench tonight and help us, with Brenna Nelson being one of them. I’m proud of my younger group. I think they grew up a lot tonight.”

Martins Ferry took its first lead, 54-53, with 1-minute, 35-seconds left since it was 4-2 early on when Lindsey best scored. After a turnover by the Mohigans, the Purple Riders called timeout with 1:21 remaining. However, they returned the turnover moments later and Morgantown’s Sydney Deusenberry scored on the inside to give the visitors the lead for good. Kayli Kellogg, the daughter of WVU women’s head basketball coach Mark Kellogg, tickled the twine four times in the waning seconds to seal the deal.

“We expected to win the game. We had the lead with a minute to go and had the ball,” Reasbeck recalled.

Morgantown won the OVAC WVU Medicine Class 5A title on Saturday over Steubenville at the ECO Center in St. Clairsville.

“We relaxed when we saw their star player, Sadaya Jones, on the bench to start the third quarter,” Reasbeck pointed out. “We have respect for her. We have respect for their program, but when we realized she wasn’t going to play, we relaxed and they went on a run and it took us too much (energy) to get back in the game.”

He was referring to an 8-0 run to start the third quarter that built the Mohigans’ margin to 11, 40-29, at the midway point. Jones had nine points at the half but sat on the end of the bench the entire second half with a bag of ice on her left knee.

Fowkes didn’t want to discuss the injury or its seriousness.

“Hopefully, Sadaya is alright,” Fowkes said. “We’ll get her back home and see what’s going on.”

“I can’t be mad,” Reasbeck added. “You’ve got Division I players on that team and a Division I head coach in the stands, and we’re up one with a minute to play. We got what we wanted out of this game. I don’t care about our record. Winning or losing this game wasn’t going to make or break our season.

“We won’t see anybody like that team. They are ranked No. 1 in the biggest division in West Virginia,” Reasbeck said. “We’ve lost two games in the last month, this one and one to the No. 3 ranked team in Ohio Division III. I’ll take my chances against anybody in Ohio Division V. But now we have to go out and prove it. The season that we’ve wanted begins on Wednesday.”

Martins Ferry is seeded No. 2 in Division V as the sectional tournament begins. The Purple Riders have a first-round bye and will meet the winner of the Navarre Fairless — Sandy Valley winner on Wednesday, Feb. 19.

“I knew Coach Reasbeck had a pretty good team if he was wanting to play us,” Fowkes noted. “They are a good, young team.”

Kellogg led all scorers with 27 points, with 12 coming in the second quarter. Nelson added 13 off the bench. Kellogg also grabbed six rebounds.

Sophomore Giana Chirpas led Martins Ferry with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She had 13 of her points in the second half when the Purple Riders made their run. Best added 15 points and five boards, while Maddie Lucas, another soph, had 11 points — all in the first half.