MORGANTOWN — University High School girls basketball coach Nick Lusk was quick to put his finger on the reason his team got out to such a fast start against visiting Buckhannon-Upshur on Tuesday night atop Baker’s Ridge.
“Well first off today was senior night of course, so we all wanted to send those two (Ella Simpson and Ashlyn Weaver) out the right way,” he said.
The Hawks (7-8) scored the first 11 points of the game, setting the tone early and building a lead that they wouldn’t come close to surrendering in a 71-38 victory over sectional foe Buckhannon-Upshur (2-9).
UHS aggressively began the game, earning a layup from the opening tip and immediately applying a full-court press that caused issues for the Buccaneers.
The Hawks opened the game offensively shooting 5 for 9 from the field while B-U has only attempted two shot attempts as a team.
The Buccaneers did manage a flurry of baskets to end the opening quarter but the Hawks led 24-9 behind five different scorers in the first.
“I thought we shared the ball very well tonight too,” Lusk said. “The press worked tonight and it got going early as we were real aggressive with it. Sometimes we can get a little lackadaisical with the pressure and I think some of that had to do with the occasion of senior night. I’m proud of the effort.”
The scoring slowed for UHS in the second quarter but the intensity on the defensive end did not. Buckhannon managed to move the ball better in the halfcourt on offense in the second but only scored seven points to the 17 of UHS.
The Hawks took a 41-16 lead into the locker room to the tune of 26 fastbreak points.
“I even told them at halftime that I thought we were sharing the ball well, but that we may have been oversharing it at times,” Lusk said. “Sometimes we get too passive and give up open shots, but overall I was pleased with the ball movement.”
UHS made 30 total field goals in the game, with 26 coming from inside the arc, and many of those coming from close range.
Junior Hannah Stemple led all scorers with 17 points and was one of four Hawks in double-figures. She was followed by sophomore Bri Fox with 11 points, and the two seniors on their night as Weaver added 11 and Simpson, with 12.
“Going forward we need to continue to try and push the ball in transition and get baskets that way,” Lusk said. “The fact that the last few games we’ve had multiple players in double-figures shows our improvement and a few of our girls have had to step up in roles due to injury and that’s only making us better.”
UHS started the season 4-8 but has won three straight games as it moves into a tough stretch of the schedule. The Hawks will travel to St. Albans to play in a shootout against Boyd County, Ky., and the No. 1 ranked team in Class AAA, Wayne.
BOX SCORE
University 71, Buckhannon-Upshur 38
B-U 9 7 12 10 – 38
UHS 24 17 16 14 – 71
Buckhannon – Lahman 4 0-0 12; Henderson 2 0-0 4; Abel 4 0-0 8; Smith 3 0-0 9; Dean 2 1-2 5.
University – Stemple 7 0-0 17; E. Simpson 6 0-0 12; Weaver 3 5-6 11; Fox 5 0-0 11; Braham 4 0-0 8; Johnson 2 2-4 6; L. Simpson 2 0-0 4; Bealko 1 0-0 2.
3-Pt. Goals – Buckhannon 7 (Lahman 4 Smith 3); University 4 (Stemple 3 Fox 1)
