MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Any high school coach who wants to keep his job has to figure out quickly how his team has to play to give them the best chance to win.
University girls’ basketball coach David Price could tell right away that, unlike last year’s post-play, half-court oriented team, this year’s Hawks needed to play one way:
Fast, fast, fast.
In it’s regular-season finale, University cranked up the speed at both ends of the floor and came away with a dominating 72-31 victory against Hampshire on Thursday night.
From the opening whistle, Price encouraged his team to push the pace on offense and pressure the ball on defense, and his Hawks (9-7) delivered to the tune of a dozen forced turnovers and, after a slow start shooting the ball, plenty of fast-break points and a 16-2 first-quarter lead.
The defensive lockdowns for the Hawks continued in the second quarter. The Trojans (7-6) didn’t get their first shot from the floor in the game to fall until five minutes were left in the second quarter, and the combination of UHS forwards Lauren Dean and Ella Simpson helped amass a 34-point halftime advantage.
Dean led all scorers with 22 points, While Simpson hit for 16, and Eden Gibson chipped in with 10 in the victory.
“We started the night struggling with our shots, as usual,” Dean said. “But when you know that you can shut down a team defensively, and get some easy transition points, it takes a lot of pressure off the offense. Everybody relaxes, gets into the flow, and that’s when we are at our best.”
Her coach could not agree more, and he credits his junior leader for playing a big role in the Hawks’ reversal of fortunes down the stretch.
“When Lauren stepped up for us halfway through the year and started to organize us on offense and take the responsibility of covering the best player on defense, it really turned us around,” Price said. “And when we push the floor, create numbers with our speed in the open court and half-court sets, like we did today, that’s what we’re after.”
The top-seeded Hawks host Bridgeport at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in the first round of the sectional tournament.
Boys’ basketball
Clay-Battelle 73, Valley Wetzel 38
BLACKSVILLE, W. Va. — Mojo Chisler scored 18 points to lead the Cee-Bees on Senior Night.
Clay-Battelle took a 21-9 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.
Austin Piper added 15 and Gavin Moore had 12 points for the Cee-Bees.
Valley Wetzel was led by Tommy Shannon’s nine points.
“It was a great Senior Night for our seven seniors,” C-B coach Josh Kisner said. “Everyone played lots of minutes and it was a good win to salute our senior class.”
Clay-Battelle (11-2) will travel to South Harrison at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.
Middle school boys
Central Preston 7s 36, West Preston 28: Aidan Schmidl lead Central Preston with 13 points as the Wildcats earned their first win of the season.
West Preston 8s 39, Bruceton 33: Aaron White scored 19 points to lead West Preston. Bruceton was led by Nathan Barone with 12 points.
Mountaineer Middle 7s 52, St. Francis 18: Jack Byer led Mountaineer Middle with 15 points. St. Francis was led by Will Biddington’s nine points.
Mountaineer Middle 8s 63, St. Francis 31: Coen Henderson led Mountaineer Middle with 10 points. St. Francis was led by Avi Shapiro’s 13 points.
