MORGANTOWN — The University girls’ road to Charleston took a step in the right direction Wednesday night, as the Hawks won 65-26 over Preston in the Class AAAA Region I, Section 2 semifinal.
In surviving the elimination round, University (15-7) guarantees itself a chance to play in a regional co-final next week with a spot in the state tournament on the line. As the top seed in the section, the Hawks will host the section final on Friday against Buckhannon-Upshur, 48-25 winners over Bridgeport.
“It’s very nice,” UHS coach Nick Lusk said of getting to play at home. “That’s what we work for. We told them when we were playing in Bridgeport what we’re striving for is to not leave here until the state tournament. Hopefully, that comes true.”
University got off to a hot start over the visiting Knights (6-17), building a 19-3 lead after the first quarter. Preston had chances early but struggled to get the ball in the basket, which led to more mistakes for the young team.
“We knew we couldn’t let them get out to a fast start and we needed a fast start just to get our confidence up,” Preston coach Brian Miller said. “We had four point-blank shots within the first six possessions and they don’t go in, and then that starts playing on you mentally.”
The Knights got caught in University’s full-court press defense multiple times in the first quarter, leading to eight turnovers in the frame and 21 total on the night.
“I thought we did well in our press,” Lusk said. “We tried changing some things up, we’re working on some other things that we might need down the road. That first half, defensively we did a nice job.”
University led 35-9 at halftime, powered by Ella Simpson scoring 16 of her game-high 18 points before the break. The Hawks then led 52-19 entering the fourth and cruised to the win.
In total, three Hawks finished in double figures and five scored multiple field goals.
“That’s really good,” Lusk said. “I thought we were sharing the basketball again. When we do that, I think we’re pretty good.”
Behind Simpson’s 18, Hannah Stemple scored 15 and Emily Sharkey had 10. Simpson also pulled down seven rebounds and collected a like number of steals while Sharkey stuffed the stat sheet with four rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Camryn Sypolt led Preston with nine points while Kendra Nazelrod had six.
For a team that only returned one player who had more than 30 minutes of varsity experience before the season, Miller said the Knights getting to six wins was a good sign of things to come.
“On paper, we probably shouldn’t have won more than two games all year, if that,” Miller said. “If we weren’t the least experienced team in the state in November, I’d like to know who was.”
University and Buckhannon-Upshur will tip off at 7 p.m. Friday on Bakers Ridge.
University 65, Preston 26
PHS 3 6 10 7 — 26
UHS 19 16 17 13 — 65
Preston — E. Wilson 1 0-2 2; A. Wilson 1 0-0 2; White 1 0-0 2; Nazelrod 2 2-2 6; Sypolt 4 0-3 9; Stiles 1 3-4 5.
University — Sharkey 3 7-10 13; Gibson 2 0-0 4; E. Simpson 8 0-0 18; Stemple 6 1-1 15; Weaver 3 0-0 6; Byers 0 1-2 1; L. Simpson 1 0-0 2; Fox 1 0-0 3; Johnson 0 1-2 1; Alexander 1 0-0 2.
3 Pt. Goals — Preston 1 (Sypolt). University 5 (E. Simpson 2, Stemple 2, Fox 1).
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