MORGANTOWN — Ashten Boggs has been playing basketball for as long as she can remember.
“Both my parents played sports in college so they raised all us kids involved in sports,” she said. “I’ve always played sports growing up for my younger sister since she can’t play herself. I ultimately play for my sister, Brenna. She is my inspiration.”
A native of Masontown, Boggs is a 2020 graduate of University High.
She will begin her sophomore year in the fall at Edinboro University.
As a freshman, Boggs appeared in 26 games, starting 21. She averaged 8.2 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. She scored 24 points against Davis & Elkins.
“My favorite memory is playing against Davis & Elkins and the head coach made a statement that there is no talent in the state of West Virginia to my assistant coach,” Boggs said. “We then beat them and I had 24 points and eight rebounds.
“Personally, I feel like I underachieved my goals but overall, as a team, we push through a lot of adversity and that only caused us to grow closer as a team and perform at a higher level.”
Boggs is looking forward to next season.
“I am excited to see what our team can accomplish because we accomplished more than expected as a very young team during my freshman year.”
As a Hawk, Boggs was part of the team that made it to the quarterfinals of the state tournament. But her senior season was suddenly cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The most memorable moment from high school was the state quarterfinal my senior year,” she said. “We had a comeback and won the game, then got the phone call 30 minutes later saying the tournament was canceled. I’ve never experienced such a happy moment turn into a bad one.
“It was heartbreaking. I know we would’ve won the state championship that year and no one will tell me otherwise. I still, to this day, wish I could go back and finish my senior year.”
Boggs was not just a one-sport athlete at UHS. She also played volleyball.
“It was kind of like my everyday thing,” she said. “I was so used to having a practice of some sort during the day and I always knew I could rely on that to take my mind off things.”
Playing basketball at Edinboro is different from high school.
“The biggest difference is the physicality of PSAC conference. Playing at UHS, I could just use my speed and height to outplay the opponents, but I can’t do that at Edinboro.”
Several factors made Boggs decide to attend Edinboro.
“I chose there because the head and assistant coach at the time made it feel like such a welcoming family and had history of winning seasons and such,” she said. “Edinboro also has one of the best programs available for my wants to become a speech pathologist.
“I really like the community around Edinboro. They are so supportive and they go to a whole new level of extreme when it comes to community love.”
Edinboro, Pa., is smaller than Morgantown.
“Edinboro is a very-small town about 20 minutes away from Erie, so I would compare Edinboro more to Cheat Lake.”
Boggs is majoring in communication sciences and disorders to become a speech pathologist.
“I plan on taking my extra year of eligibility and continue playing basketball at Edinboro while going to graduate school to get my master’s.”
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