MORGANTOWN – University High School girls’ basketball head coach Nick Lusk knows one of his team’s biggest strengths this season is the experience his starting five brings to the floor.
Four seniors and a junior grace the starting lineup for the Hawks, and on Saturday afternoon against No. 3 Wheeling Park, a veteran of the team helped them to a 48-45 victory on Baker’s Ridge and a season sweep of the defending Class AAAA state champions.
After a back-and-forth contest throughout the afternoon, the Hawks (7-5) trailed Wheeling Park by three, 40-37, with 2:45 seconds to play.
That’s when UHS senior guard Julia Maisel went on a personal 7-0 scoring run and earned multiple steals on defense to propel her team to a 44-40 lead and, eventually, a crucial win over the Patriots.
“We knew at halftime the game would come down to the defensive end, and that’s what we stressed in the locker room before the third quarter,” UHS head coach Nick Lusk said. “I thought we did a nice job rebounding the basketball as well. We lost Bordas a few times in the first half, and she made us pay, but we responded well and showed a lot of heart in the second half.”
Two-time state player of the year Alexis Bordas led Wheeling Park with 28 of her team’s 45 points. No other player scored over four points or made more than two field goals for the Patriots.
UHS held Bordas to 10 of 30 shooting from the field, but she did manage to make five of her 13 attempts from three-point range.
She opened the game perfectly from downtown, draining her first three triples in the opening five minutes and giving the visitors an early 11-4 lead.
UHS senior and 1,000-point career scorer Hannah Stemple exited the game early in the first quarter with her second personal foul, but the Hawks didn’t allow her absence to hinder them, and ended the quarter on a 5-1 run, cutting the lead to one possession 12-9.
Stemple also missed the entire second quarter, but UHS managed an 8-7 advantage in the frame. Junior Isabella Hall and sophomore Whitney Cox provided quality minutes off the bench for the Hawks. Hall scored her only field goal attempt and knocked down both free throws while dishing two assists and grabbing two crucial defensive rebounds.
UHS trailed 19-17 at the break, and the teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter but Stemple hit a triple and two free throws to end the half, pulling the Hawks in front 33-30.
Wheeling Park took a 36-33 lead with 4:30 to play as the Hawks continued searching for their fourth quarter’s first points.
Bordas took a hard fall and exited the game for 90 seconds and UHS took advantage of two Wheeling Park turnovers that converted into baskets and a 37-36 lead.
Bordas returned to the game and quickly scored two more buckets to retake the lead for the Patriots, 40-37.
Enter Julia Maisel.
She nailed a triple to tie the game at 40, then followed that with a steal on the defensive end. She went the length of the court after forcing the turnover and scored a tough layup while being fouled. UHS took a 43-40 lead after she converted the free throw attempt.
“I felt like I was a little passive in the first half and didn’t play as well as I could,” she said. “It was a close game, and I knew I had to come out and make something happen.”
After another stop by the UHS defense, Maisel was fouled and split a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 44-40. However, she managed to track down her own rebound and find her teammate, Brianna Fox, who was fouled and converted both of her attempts.
Bordas was fouled on a three-point attempt and cut into the lead 47-43, and the Patriots added a lay-in at the horn, but it would prove too little, too late, as UHS escaped with a massive victory at home.
UHS will travel to Parkersburg South on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
BOX SCORE
University 48, Wheeling Park 45
WP 12 7 11 15 – 45
UHS 9 8 16 15 – 48
Wheeling Park (9-4) – Bordas 10 3-3 28 Miller 2 0-0 4 Stone 2 0-0 4 Hupp 1 1-4 3 Hunt 1 0-2 2 Daugherty 1 0-0 2
University (7-5) – Stemple 4 5-6 14 Maisel 2 3-5 11 Simpson 3 3-4 9 Fox 1 3-3 5 Hall 1 2-2 4 Johnson 1 1-4 3 Cox 0 2-2 2
3pt goals made – Wheeling Park 5 (Bordas 5); University 3 (Maisel 2 Stemple 1)
