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PITTSBURGH — In a close tournament opener against WVU forward Oscar Tshiebwe’s former high school, Kennedy Catholic (Pa.), at the Winter Jam Fest in Pittsburgh, University played smart ball and hit its free throws in the closing minutes to edge the Golden Eagles, 67-62.
The Hawks (8-2) started out rusty off a week break, falling behind K.C. 17-9 in the first quarter. UHS would respond in the second, however, outscoring the Golden Eagles (7-3) 15-6 to take a one-point lead heading into halftime. After going shot-for-shot with K.C. from the open of the third quarter to the 4-minute mark in the fourth, UHS began to pull away thanks to clutch 3-pointers by John Ross Mazza — who hit all of his eight points in the final stanza — and Blake Barkley. The Hawks kept it cool, hitting 8 of 9 free throws to pad their lead and eventually seal the game.
K.J. McClurg led the Hawks with 21 points while Kaden Metheny tossed in 19. Mike Maumbe crashed the boards to grab 13 rebounds in addition to his nine points, ending just shy of a double-double.
“K.J. really carried us through the first 12 minutes,” UHS coach Joe Schmidle said. “He scored all of our points until Kaden began to catch fire and help lead us.”
Although the well-known duo led the Hawks, Schmidle was highly impressed with Maumbe who began to slow down Division I scouted player, Ike Herster. Herster finished with 33 points with off 12 buckets and a 5 of 5 performance from the charity stripe.
“It wasn’t one of our better games, but we’re pleased with the win.”
UHS has a short break until Wednesday when they host rival Morgantown at 7:30 p.m. The Hawks hold a 1-0 season series advantage over the Mohigans after a 3-point win at MHS on Jan. 3.
UNIVERSITY (8-2)
McClurg 6 6-6 21; Metheny 8 1-2 19; Maumbe 4 1-1 9; Mazza 2 3-3 8; Barkley 1 2-2 5; Niceler 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 14-16 67.
KENNEDY CATHOLIC (7-3)
Herster 12 5-5 33; Christian 6 0-2 13; Magestro 3 3-4 10; Young 1 1-1 3; Thomas 1 1-2 3. Totals: 23 10-14 62.
UHS 9 15 19 24 — 67
KC 17 6 20 19 — 62
3-pointers: UHS 7 (McClurg 3, Metheny 2, Mazza, Barkley); KC 6 (Hester 4, Magestro, Christian).
Trinity 73, Moorefield 64
MOOREFIELD, W.Va. — Trinity Christian netted its third straight win with a 73-64 victory over Moorefield on Saturday.
The Warriors (4-6) started the road game outscoring the Yellow Jackets 19-15 before taking a 39-33 lead at the half.
Moorefield (5-3) began to mount a comeback in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to three points, but a strong fourth quarter saw the Warriors run away with the win.
Fletcher Hartsock led the Warriors with a game-high 34 points, sinking 12 buckets and hitting 10 of 11 of his free throws. Seth Goins was a sniper from 3-point land, knocking down six treys to assist Hartsock with 22 points.
Chase Vance paced the Yellow Jackets with 20 points while Thomas Williams and Brent Moran were the final Jackets in double digits with 12 and 11, respectively.
Trinity returns to action on Wednesday with a road game at Cameron.
In JV action, Trinity edged the Yellow Jackets 43-42 behind 15 points by Gavin Jackson. Coleman Mongold led Moorefield with 13.
TRINITY CHRISTIAN (4-6)
Hartsock 12 10-11 34; Goins 8 0-0 22; Anderson 2 2-2 7; Kurilko 3 0-3 6; Boczek 2 2-2 4. Totals: 27 14-18 73.
MOOREFIELD (5-3)
Vance 5 9-10 20; Williams 5 0-0 12; Moran 4 3-3 11; Shoemaker 3 0-0 8; Mongold 2 1-2 6; Ours 2 0-0 5; Funk 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 13-15 64.
TCS 19 20 16 18 — 73
MFHS 15 18 19 12 — 64
3-pointers: TCS 7 (Goins 6, Anderson); MFHS 8 (Vance, Williams, Shoemaker, Ours, Mongold).
Girls’ basketball
Morgantown 74, Musselman 48
INWOOD, W.Va. — Morgantown needed a win, and Saturday’s bout at Musselman proved to be a double-dipping victory. Not only did the Mohigans come away with a swamping 74-48 win, they redeemed an early-season loss.
Both teams started out on each others’ heels, but Morgantown (3-6) prevailed to take a 16-13 lead after the first quarter. The Mohigans then moved on to outscore the Applemen (8-3) 19-12 in the second quarter to enter halftime up 10 points at 35-25.
MHS entered the third quarter with fire behind its shots, outscoring Musselman 23-10 to effectively seal the game. The Mohigans didn’t back down though, netting 16 points in the final stanza compared to Musselman’s 13.
Morgantown was led by three girls in double figures, with Kaitlyn Ammons (16 points), Berit Johnson (15) and Cat Wassick (13) combining for 44 points — four points shy of outscoring the entire Applemen team.
Janaia Fargo and Jordan Kerr were the only Applemen in double digits with 10 points each.
Morgantown returns to action on Monday at Buckhannon-Upshur at 7:30 p.m.
MORGANTOWN (3-6)
Ammons 7 1-1 16; Johnson 5 2-5 15; Wassick 4 2-4 13; Bechtel 4 0-0 9; Peasak 2 0-0 6; Sweeney 2 2-4 6; Henkins 1 0-0 3; Moore 1 0-0 2; Jenkins 1 0-0 2; Hawkins 1 0-1 2. Totals: 28 7-15 74.
MUSSELMAN (8-3)
Fargo 2 5-6 10; Kerr 3 2-2 10; Burdette 3 1-2 8; Ritchie 2 4-7 8; Lindsay 1 1-2 4; Jenkins 1 0-0 3; Dalton 1 0-0 3; Ambrose 1 0-0 2. Totals: 14 13-19 48.
MORGANTOWN 16 19 23 16 — 74
MUSSELMAN 13 12 10 13 — 48
3-pointers: Morgantown 11 (Johnson 3, Wassick 3, Peasak 2, Ammons, Bechtel, Henkins); Musselman 7 (Kerr 2, Fargo, Burdette, Lindsay, Jenkins, Dalton).
Wrestling
UHS takes 4th place at Winners Choice
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The Hawks wrestling squad competed against more than 33 teams in the Winners Choice Tournament Friday and Saturday, coming away with a fourth-place finish. Waynesburg, Pa., was the champion.
The Hawks clinched two second-place finishes, Jace Stockett in the 126 weight class and Josh Sanders in the 220 bracket. UHS also had two fourth-place finishes (Dom Parker at 132 and Elijah Wellings-Osha at 160), one 5th place finisher (Dakota Hagedorn, 152) and one 7th place finisher (Joey Gidley, 145).
“It was a good experience,” UHS coach Ken Maisel said. “We lost some and won some that we maybe shouldn’t have won or lost, but we learned some things about ourselves and will get better. Some guys learned they’re better than they thought.”
The Hawks have a line of big tournaments coming up: OVACs from Jan. 16-18 and the state duals on Feb. 1 at the Greenbrier Resort. They are the Region I representative and will face off against Parkersburg (Region IV), Spring Mills (Region II) and the winner of Greenbrier East-St. Albans (Region III).
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