MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — It was the type of win the University girls’ basketball team needed to put itself back in the mindset that it can still compete with the best of the best.
The Hawks, No. 10 in the Class AAA rankings, knocked off Class AA No. 5 Fairmont Senior 67-56 on Thursday night at UHS, off the heels of losing two of their last three. Those two losses came to the top two teams in Class AAA, Greenbrier East and Wheeling Park, by a combined 29 points.
But against the Polar Bears (16-4), it was senior Ashten Boggs who once again put the team on her shoulders, scoring 36 points and grabbing 10 rebounds for UHS (13-7).
She was able to get to the rim and if she wasn’t scoring, Boggs was able to get to the free-throw line frequently — 15 of her 36 points came from the charity stripe.
Boggs has been a tenacious scorer of late and is doing everything in her power to help the Hawks get back to the state tournament, which is quickly nearing as the regular season winds down.
“It’s my senior year and I really don’t want this to end and I know this season is really close to coming to an end,” Boggs said. “I’ve got to put this on my back. I love this team and I’d do anything for it and I just really wanted to get us the win.”
Boggs went head-to-head with Fairmont Senior’s Marley Washenitz, who is already Division-I buzz as a sophomore. Washenitz was able to score 24 points to lead her team, but otherwise, the rest of the Polar Bears were held in check.
Washenitz also played the majority of the game in foul trouble, eventually fouling out in the fourth quarter while Fairmont Senior needed to start intentionally sending UHS to the free-throw line.
“It’s a really physical battle between us two,” Boggs said. “She’s a great player. It’s fun to go up against a player like that. She may have been a little conservative when she had four fouls but that’s anybody, even me. I can’t be as aggressive, but she was still up in my grill. She played smart until she eventually had to foul.”
Though Boggs got a majority of the points for UHS, the guard rotation of Lauren Dean, Emily Sharkey and Bella Bowers played solid minutes, especially defensively. Quick hands at the top of the key led to transition baskets for the Hawks, especially for Dean, who finished with 11 points as the only other double-digit scorer besides Boggs.
“Our emphasis lately in practice is defense,” Boggs said. “Teams have scored way too much on us, and those three don’t realize their job, but [Thursday], they realized how big of a job they had. They gave 100% all the time, and we had a quick rotation so it helped us have fresh legs to put pressure on the ball all the time.”
UHS will host Spring Mills at 1:45 p.m. Saturday in its final home game of the regular season. Fairmont Senior will host Weir at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
