WHEELING – For the second night in a row, the ‘Palace on the Hill’ at Wheeling Park High School was turned into the ‘Hawks’ Nest.’
On the heels of a 60-45 girls’ basketball victory on Tuesday, University completed the two-night sweep with a 53-37 verdict over the Patriots’ boys 24 hours later.
The Hawks (8-1) – ranked No. 7 in the latest W.Va. Class AAAA poll – used a red-hot third quarter en route to their seventh straight triumph in pulling away from Wheeling Park (2-4), which hadn’t played since January 2.
Wheeling Park had all the momentum heading into the half when J.D. Williams drained a three from the left corner as the buzzer sounded for a 16-all deadlock. It was his third triple of the second quarter and all of the Patriots points as they outscored the Hawks 9-2.
When Jay Bordas buried a three from the left side to start the third quarter, Wheeling Park led 19-16. That’s when it all went south for the hosts.
“We executed our game plan, especially in the second quarter when I think we ran about three minutes off the clock on one possession,” Wheeling Park head coach Michael Jebbia said. “There was a game earlier this season that got away from us in the second quarter, so we weren’t going to let that happen tonight. The kids executed, but the talent and height of University took over in the second half.”
University went on a 10-0 run sparked by Luke Byrer’s five points for a 26-19 advantage. The surge increased to 17-1 before Wheeling Park made a pair of late free throws for a 33-22 lead for the visitors.
“I don’t think we played well at all, especially in the second quarter,” veteran University head coach Joe Schmidle said. “We only had three possessions in the quarter and we only scored two points. We got it figured out at halftime and the kids responded in the third quarter.”
Trailing 38-24 early in the fourth quarter, the Patriots tallied six unanswered markers to pull to within eight, 38-30, but the Hawks extended their margin to 45-33 before Wheeling Park got to within eight again at 45-37 on a steal and floater in the lane by Kolten Whitmire.
However, University netted the final eight for the 16-point triumph.
“I thought (Glenn) Brown did a really good job on the Williams kid,” Schmidle praised. “We had Brown on him in the first quarter and the entire second half. He (Williams) scored all of his points when he was out of the game.”
The win came despite some lackluster shooting by the Hawks in the first half, especially in the first eight minutes, when they were 6-for-18 from the floor, including 5-for-12 in the first quarter with all seven misses coming on close-range shots, something that Schmidle said is the norm for the basket at the east end of the gym.
“I’ve been coming here for 20 years and we can’t make a layup on that basket. I don’t know what it is about that basket,” he bemoaned. “I wasn’t happy with our performance in the second quarter. The rest of the game was alright, and I thought we started out okay.”
Williams’ nine points led Wheeling Park. Jamar Creighton added eight and Whitmire seven. Whitmire also pulled down five rebounds while Creighton added four.
“I’m proud of the way the kids performed,” Jebbia said. “They gave it everything they had. It’s only game six for us.”
Zachary Demidovich paced three Hawks in double digits with 13, one more than Luke Byrer. Brown added 10. Demidovich also led in rebounds with seven.
University was charged with nine turnovers, one less than Wheeling Park. The Hawks also owned a 28-22 advantage off the glass.
— Story by Kim North
