CHARLESTON – Monongalia County will be well-represented this week in Charleston as all three public high schools have qualified for the 2025 WVSSAC boys’ basketball tournament.
Rivals Morgantown and University will each tip-off in the morning session on Wednesday inside the Charleston Coliseum in the quarterfinals of the Class AAAA bracket.
Clay-Battelle will open the day on Thursday in the Class A tournament.
The Mohigans enter the week as winners of three consecutive Class AAAA titles and have secured the second seed in the bracket.
MHS will face No. 7 Parkersburg South on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m. The Mohigans defeated the Patriots in the championship game in 2022 and 2023.
“We have veteran leadership in Marty Johnson and Brady Savage on our team, and those guys have played a lot of basketball in that arena,” MHS head coach Dave Tallman said. “They’re passing the torch to the younger guys, so to speak. They’ve been amazing leaders and even better people.”
Parkersburg South was the most recent team to defeat MHS this season, earning a 60-51 victory on February 24th in Parkersburg.
“They’re long and really can shoot it,” Tallman said. “They played harder than us the last time and outrebounded, out-toughed, and out-played us. We need to play hard and execute. That first game was a nice wake-up call for us. They’re good and have a lot of talent. We need to be locked in this time around.”
All five starters for MHS average double-figure scoring, with Waylon Colistra leading the team at 13.5 points per game.
University makes its first appearance at the state tournament since 2020, earning the six-seed in Class AAAA. The Hawks will meet third-seeded George Washington in the opening round.
UHS holds a 4-3 record against teams in the field and averages 62.7 points per contest this season. The Patriots allow just 43.9 points to their opponents.
“I think our team has a lot of grit and can grind out a game and find ways to win,” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said. We are very balanced scoring the ball, which makes us hard to prepare for, and our defense allows us to stay in games.”
The Hawks will take on No. 3 George Washington to begin the day on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.
“Obviously a 9:30 a.m. start time isn’t ideal, especially when your opponent gets to sleep in their own beds the night before,” Schmidle said. “But once the ball goes up and the adrenaline starts flowing, none of that will matter. Honestly, we have had decent luck in morning games.”
Clay-Battelle heads to Charleston after securing the six-seed in the Class A competition. The Cee-Bees finished in the semifinals in 2023 but failed to return to the state tournament last season.
C-B senior big Preston Luzader is having one of the better individual seasons in the state, averaging 24 points and 13 rebounds per game. He secured 19 consecutive double-doubles in the regular season.
Luzader and his team will face No. 3 East Hardy in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. The Cougars defeated C-B 56-47 on January 28.
“We have some talented young men on our team who have worked very hard for this opportunity,” C-B head coach Josh Kisner said. “We play a tough schedule during the regular season to help prepare us for this time of the season.”
The six teams the Cee Bees have fallen to this season hold a combined record of 103-44.
“East Hardy is fast and has some great shooters,” Kisner said. “We have to be sure to get back on defense, contest their shots, and make sure they don’t get second-chance opportunities. They had 13 offensive rebounds against us in our first meeting.”
