MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — For three weeks, Ryan Niceler had nothing but himself, a basketball and his thoughts to keep him busy.
It was the result of the University High boys’ basketball team taking a mandatory two-week COVID-19 quarantine followed by a week’s worth of canceled games to not jeopardize the postseason.
“It was pretty rough,” the Hawks’ senior forward said. “I just got up some shots whenever I could and tried to stay in shape. I actually used a lot of the time to catch up on some school work, but there wasn’t actually a lot you can do.”
Niceler made up for some lost time Tuesday, finishing with 27 points in the Hawks’ 73-52 victory against Preston in the first round of the Class AAAA Region I, Section 2 tournament.
He had 16 at the half, scoring in bunches after the Knights (6-13) took an early 7-0 lead.
“We weren’t ready to play,” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said. “You could tell we haven’t played in three weeks.”
Niceler took advantage by sitting in the middle of Preston’s zone and making plays with either a jumper or by weaving through traffic on his way to a lay-up.
“Once we got off to such a bad start, Ryan sort of felt he had to kind of do it all, which can be a good thing,” Schmidle said. “I’d still like to see him put a little more trust in his teammates and distribute the ball some, but he had a heck of a game tonight.”
And Niceler does it all with a stern poker face throughout, taking a workman’s like approach to the game.
Whether he scores 30 or three, the opponent never knows what’s going on in Niceler’s head.
“I don’t think I’ve really ever seen him laugh much or anything like that,” Schmidle said. “What I can say is Ryan is on a mission, which he should be as a senior.
“He’s been a three-year starter for us, but he’s always been our third or fourth wheel. Now, he’s our go-to guy and he wants to get back to Charleston and compete for a state title.”
Preston got as close as six points midway through the third quarter, but Niceler’s versatility and the inside presence of Blake Barkley (14 points, eight rebounds) were too much.
“We’ve been asking 6-foot-1 guys to compete against 6-5 guys all year,” Preston head coach Paul Koontz said. “Our guys played really hard and we have a lot of young guys with promise, but (University) just wore us down with their size and rebounding tonight.”
Preston forward JC Harris led the Knights with 18 points and four rebounds and teammate Jacob Burns added eight points.
Jaeden Hammack added 11 points for UHS.
The Hawks (9-1) advance to host Buckhannon-Upshur at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Region I, Section 2 championship game.
B-U defeated Bridgeport on Tuesday, 63-47.
Box score
PRESTON (6-13)
Ferrell 0 0-0 0, Harris 8 1-1 18, Thomas 2 0-0 5, Snyder 2 0-0 5, Burns 3 2-4 8, Long 0 0-0 0, Sargent 1 0-0 2, Felton 1 2-2 5, Hawkins 0 2-2 2, Manko 2 2-2 7. Totals 19 9-11 52.
UNIVERSITY (9-1)
Barkley 6 0-0 14, Niceler 11 5-6 27, Forbes 2 1-2 5, Brooks 1 0-0 2, Kisner 3 1-1 7, Hammack 5 0-0 11, Jackson 1 1-2 3, Wisman-Raven 1 2-3 4, Reyes 0 0-0 0, Clawges 0 0-0 0, Cavalier 0 0-0 0. Totals 30 10-14 73.
Preston 12 16 13 11—52
University 19 17 15 22—73
3-pointers: Preston 5 (Manko 1, Harris 1, Thomas 1, Snyder 1, Felton 1). UHS 3 (Barkley 2, Hammack 1).
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