MORGANTOWN — University couldn’t dig the whole way out of an early hole as the Hawks fell 70-60 to Shady Spring on day two of the Little General Holiday Classic Saturday afternoon at Morgantown High.
The Hawks (2-2) missed several shots to begin the game and trailed 19-6 in the early stages. The Tigers (2-1), the No. 2 team in Class AAA, led 29-15 after the first quarter.
“We have not shot the ball well all year,” UHS coach Joe Schmidle said. “We’re not great shooters, but we’re not that bad either, they’re just not going in. You get two or three of those to go down, see the ball go through the basket and it kind of changes the completion of the whole game.”
With the outside shots not falling, UHS started to go inside to forwards Zachary Demidovich and John Coleman and found a rhythm.
The Hawks outscored Shady 45-41 over the final three quarters, but the early deficit proved too much to overcome.
“We haven’t put together four quarters of basketball yet,” Schmidle said. “I was proud of the kids. I thought we played hard, we just couldn’t get over that hump.”
Shady Spring was led by a pair of 20-point scorers in Jackson Williams and Ammar Maxwell. Makhi Olson (16) and Jalon Bailey (10) also finished in double figures.
“That’s one of the best teams in the state of West Virginia and being able to stay within 10 points, it made us better,” Schmidle said.
Coleman led University with 16 points while Ethan Jackson scored 13 and Demidovich finished with 12. KK Lewis provided 10 points.
The Hawks’ next game will be Wednesday on the road at Preston High.
BOX SCORE
Shady Spring 70, University 60
UHS 15 11 15 19 — 60
SS 29 10 17 14 — 70
UNIVERSITY (2-2) — Jackson 4 1-2 12; Coleman 5 6-7 16; Hudson 1 1-2 3; Ford 0 0-0 0; Henderson 3 1-2 7; Demidovich 4 4-6 12; Lewis 3 4-4 10; Byrer 0 0-0 0; Kleeh 0 0-0 0.
SHADY SPRING (2-1) — Williams 6 4-5 20; Maxwell 7 6-11 20; Davis 1 0-0 2; Olson 4 6-9 16; Bailey 5 0-0 10; Radford 0 0-0 0; McKoy 1 0-0 2; Richmond 0 0-0 0; Johnston 0 0-0 0.
3-Pt. Goals — University 3 (Jackson 3). Shady Spring 6 (Williams 4, Olson 2).
