MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Two of the best teams in West Virginia are squaring off at 7:30 p.m. today, but neither coach is too concerned as University High travels across town to face Morgantown.
“Joe [Schmidle] and I always talk about [the bigger picture],” MHS coach Dave Tallman said. “This place will probably be sold out and packed, but we play other good opponents and it would be nice to get the same support for those that we have for this one. This is a big game for the community, but, for us right now in January, it’s just another game.”
University is coming off its holiday tournament in Myrtle Beach, where the Hawks (7-2) suffered their first two losses of the year to Millennium (Ariz.) and Myrtle Beach (S.C.), two powerhouses in their respective states. Although they were quality losses, UHS coach Joe Schmidle saw a lot that needed to be worked on, specifically rebounding, team play and free-throw shooting.
“We’ve been working on a lot of fundamental things [since Myrtle Beach]: Defense, boxing out, crashing the boards and playing team basketball,” Schmidle said. “Free-throw shooting killed us. Rebounding was the other thing that was very inconsistent.”
After out-rebounding Millennium 40-35 in the first game of the Beach Ball Classic, the Hawks went stagnant against Myrtle Beach before winning their final two games against Morgan Park (Ill.) and Buchtel (Ohio). And when it comes to free throws, the Hawks have struggled throughout the first stretch of the season at the line. Free throws helped them in their game against Wheeling Park, but in that two-point loss to the Tigers, they only hit 5 of 13.
“You’ve got to be solid,” Schmidle said about taking on the Mohigans. “If you’re not, your mistakes will be magnified because Morgantown is so well-coached defensively. If we forget to do the little things — cutting hard and being patient on offense — it’ll be a rough night for us.”
Although the Hawks struggle in some facets, they still have a solid offense highlighted by Division I prospects K.J. McClurg and Kaden Metheny. The two never dropped below double digits in Myrtle Beach but will face similar adversity against Morgantown’s defense. The upside for Tallman’s game planning is that he’s familiar with the duo’s style of play.
“This isn’t the first time we’ve played Kaden and K.J., but they’re two players that come through a program once in a while,” Tallman said. “When you have two Division I players on one team, it makes it tough for anyone to match up against them. We’ll do our best to play team defense and make those guys have a rough night as far as running different guys at them. We don’t want to leave them open. We want them to work for what they get.”
Morgantown (6-0) isn’t without its own playmakers, highlighting a powerful center in Carson Poffenberger, who averages around 19 points a game and a trio of lockdown shooters in Alex Rudy, Xavier Pryor and Alec Poland.
Even with those four leaders, Morgantown is deep, and each night typically sees new guys leading the box score.
“I’m happy with our effort so far. Our guys are determined to have a special season, and so far the buy-in and attitude has been terrific,” Tallman said. “We’ve always had a defense-first mindset here, but we’ve been scoring well, too. We’ve got a lot of weapons and depth.”
Yes, it’s a big game for both schools, but no matter the outcome, each team will move on and learn. Schmidle put it best, echoing his cross-county equal:
“It’s probably a lot bigger of a game to everyone in town than Tallman and I,” he said. “Other than [the implications of earning a] sectional seeding or state tournament seeding, it’s a regular-season game. Win or lose, you’re going to learn from it. The most important games we’ll be playing are the ones in March, so we’re going to build on the outcome, move forward and try to improve every day.”
