MORGANTOWN — The next round of the girls’ basketball playoffs tips off Friday and three local teams will have the chance to win a sectional title. Morgantown plays at Wheeling Park while University and Trinity Christian will host.
Win or lose, all three teams will have the opportunity to play for a spot in the state tournament in next week’s region co-finals. Sectional winners will host while runners-up will have to go on the road.
The Class 4A Region I, Section 1 championships will be the fourth matchup between the Mohigans (19-4) and Patriots (21-2) this season. The teams were voted No. 1 and 2 in the final state rankings.
Park won the first two regular-season matchups, but the Mohigans got the better of them, 59-49, earlier this month at the OVAC Championships.
“I think that was another key win for us in the season that has helped our confidence,” MHS coach Doug Goodwin said. “We’ve had a few of those throughout and I think that’s definitely helped their confidence.”
Morgantown defeated John Marshall 76-56 in the section semifinal while Wheeling Park bested Brooke 89-45.
The other section championship in Region I will be between University (15-7) and Buckhannon-Upshur (13-10) on Bakers Ridge. The Hawks, ranked No. 6 in the state, defeated the Buccaneers 70-42 in their only meeting this season.
University gets to host the section final by virtue of securing the top seed in the tournament.
“It’s very nice,” UHS coach Nick Lusk said of getting to play at home. “That’s what we work for…what we’re striving for is to not leave (UHS) until the state tournament. Hopefully, that comes true.”
University was a 65-26 winner over Preston in the semifinal and BU notched a 48-25 upset over Bridgeport.
The other sectional championship in town will be Braxton County (6-17) against Trinity (13-10), high on the hill in Sabraton.
The Warriors were 66-21 winners over Notre Dame in the Class 2A Region II, Section 2 semifinal on Wednesday, while the Eagles survived South Harrison 42-37 in overtime.
“Going forward we need to be a little more aggressive on offense, fundamentally,” TCS coach Mike Baldy said after his team only shot 6 of 21 from the floor.
The other section final in Region II is between Frankfort and Petersburg.
All of Friday’s games will tip off at 7 p.m. Region co-finals are scheduled to be played Tuesday, Feb. 28.
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