MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — Heading into the fourth quarter Thursday night, the fourth-ranked University High boys’ basketball team found itself in a tight battle.
Trailing a tough, resilient Buckhannon-Upshur team after seven third-quarter lead changes, the Hawks knew what they needed to do for the next eight minutes.
Much of that was because UHS head coach Joe Schmidle had been screaming it to his team for most of the night.
“Call out the switches, and box out,” Schmidle yelled time and again.
In the end, it was the hawks’ defensive intensity and ferocious rebounding that made the difference in a 65-53 victory in the Class AAAA Region I, Section 2 championship game.
“There was no panic, no worry,” Schmidle said after the game. “It was going to take a strong defensive effort on the glass, fighting and switching through screens, and contesting shots better for us to have a chance to win. I reminded them, and they executed pretty well.”
After a slow offensive start for both teams, University’s triple towers of Blake Barkley, Garrison Kisner, and especially Aaron Forbes attacked the rim and forged a quick 15-4 advantage with two minutes remaining in the quarter, but the Bucs responded with a pair of 3’s to pull within five.
In the second quarter, numerous lay-up opportunities just wouldn’t fall for the Hawks, allowing B-U to climb all the way for a tied 28-28 game at the half.
The third quarter was a seesaw of lead changes and ties, and a sloppy UHS turnover with under 10 seconds left allowed feisty guard Ryan Hurt to race the length of the floor and score to give B-U a 46-44 advantage after three quarters.
The Hawks scored the first three buckets of the final quarter and got stops on the other end all three times.
Senior forward Ryan Niceler imposed his will offensively, attacking on fast breaks and on a critical step-through moves in the paint that drew an and-one foul to give the Hawks a big 58-50 lead with three minutes left.
Another transition lay-in from the Niceler made it 60-50 a minute later to essentially put the game on ice.
“I got into a little early foul trouble, which took me out of the flow in the first half,” Niceler said. “I felt like I needed to pick things up offensively for us. I definitely decided to attack more late in the third and the rest of the way, because I would either score or get to the line or find somebody open.
“We knew we just needed to pick our game up a little, because B-U is a good team, but we could play better. And we did when it counted the most, which gives us a big confidence boost moving forward.”
In the pivotal fourth, the Hawks outscored the Bucs 21-7, and Niceler accumulated 7 of his 13 total points in the final quarter.
Schmidle was actually surprised not by the tightness of the game (UHS edged the Bucs 58-55 early in the season), but that the final margin was a dozen points.
“They’re a tough match-up for us,” he admitted, ” and I really was sure that this one was going to go down to the wire. We’ve done a nice job this year of winning close games, and you have to credit some of the veterans like Niceler and Aaron Forbes, who really played a big man’s game for us tonight. He’s capable of that kind of performance every time out, and I’m ready to see him deliver when we need him.
Forbes was a power presence down low all night and finished with a game-high 17 points for the Hawks (11-2).
“We are still learning, still getting better,” Forbes said. “It feels great to take a sectional title during such a challenging year. Looking forward to giving ourselves a chance to take the next step.”
With the victory, University hosts the Region I final against the loser of tonight’s Morgantown-Wheeling Park game.
The Region I final is scheduled 7:00 p.m. on April 28.
Box score
BUCKHANNON-UPSHUR (12-6)
Ryan Hurst 5 0-0 13 Lamar Hurst 4 1-4 11 Harrison Walker 5 0-0 13 Noam Keith 1 0-0 2 Zach White 5 0-0 10 Josh Loudin 2 0-0 4 Totals 22 1-4 53.
UNIVERSITY (11-2)
Garrison Kisner 4 0-0 8 Jude Wisman-Raven 1 0-0 2 T.T. Brooks 5 0-0 10 Blake Barkley 6 2-5 15 Ryan Niceler 4 5-5 13 Aaron Forbes 5 7-8 17 Totals 25 14-18 65.
Buckhannon-Upshur 14 14 18 7–53
University 19 9 16 21–65
3-pointers: B-U 8 (R. Hurst 3, Walker 3, L. Hurst 2), UHS 1 (Barkley). Fouled out: B-U (L. Hurst)
