MORGANTOWN — Basketball games don’t get much bigger than this one.
On Wednesday, cross-town rivals University and Morgantown will meet for the third time this season with a spot in next week’s state tournament on the line.
The Mohigans (19-5) won both regular-season matchups between the rivals, 65-59 on the road and 42-40 at home. However, the Hawks (16-7) will have home-court advantage for Wednesday’s Class AAAA Region I co-final between the rivals.
“We’ve seen them so much, they know us and we know them,” UHS coach Nick Lusk said. “I think our girls are tired of our scouts we give them (on Morgantown). I think they’re just ready to play them again.”
University hosts the game by virtue of winning last week’s Section 2 championship over Buckhannon-Upshur, 61-35. Morgantown, meanwhile, is coming off of a 66-61 loss to Wheeling Park in the Section 1 final.
“We continue to do what we’ve been doing, focus on our preparation for each game,” MHS coach Doug Goodwin said. “Try to keep things calm, the girls know it’s a pretty big game, we’re expecting a pretty big crowd. The girls know what’s on the line, it’s a regional final.”
The winner of Wednesday’s game will secure a spot in next week’s WVSSAC state tournament in Charleston. The Mohigans finished as Class AAAA runners-up at the tournament last season while University is searching for its first trip to Charleston in three years.
“We’ve played for this all year,” Lusk said. “To be here (at UHS) so that we don’t have to leave here until Charleston. I think (the players have) done that, they’ve bought in and they’ve done a real nice job with it.”
The game could potentially draw the biggest crowd of any game in Mon County this season. Tickets must be purchased in advance online at gofan.co.
“I would say it’s probably going to be a 50/50 crowd,” Goodwin said. “But at Wheeling Park the other night it was noisy all the time. It was loud when we had the ball, loud when they had the ball, it was difficult the entire time.”
The teams know each other well and share a lot of similarities. Both squads have capable scorers — Lily Jordan and Sofia Wassick for MHS and Ella Simpson and Hannah Stemple for UHS — to go along with deep benches and high-effort defense.
“We all know each other,” Lusk said. “It just comes down to, again, effort. It’s going to be who wants it more and it’s to go to the state tournament so you should want it pretty badly.”
“It’s going to be desire for loss balls, who wins the 50/50 balls, who hits the boards the hardest,” Goodwin added.
The regional co-final rivalry matchup will tip off from UHS at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
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