MORGANTOWN – The calendar has turned, and March is among us. With it comes the madness as the girls’ high school basketball season continues postseason play with regional finals starting Tuesday night.
Three Monongalia County teams will hit the court with an opportunity to punch their ticket and be one of eight teams to reserve a spot in their respective state tournament next week in Charleston.
Morgantown earned the top seed in Region I of Class AAAA, followed by University, who earned the second seed and a bye into the regional finals.
The Mohigans and Hawks will both enjoy homecourt advantage on Tuesday night.
MHS (17-3) will welcome fourth seed John Marshall into the Rowdie Center for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. The Monarchs (15-8) enter the contest winners of their last eight games and have regular-season victories over Spring Mills and University.
Junior Rilee Storm is making her case for Class AAAA all-state consideration, leading John Marshall with 21.1 points and nearly ten rebounds per game.
“She makes them a dangerous team, but overall, they have the ability to score the ball,” MHS head coach John Fowkes said. “They’ve also won eight games in a row, so we know their confidence is high right now.”
The Mohigans have only suffered a single loss (a 48-40 defeat to No. 1 Spring Valley) in their past 12 games.
“We have great team chemistry,” Fowkes said when asked what equips his team for the postseason. “Kayli Kellogg and Sadaya Jones are a great one-two punch, and several other players are stepping up at the right time. We feel our team defense is strong, and we need to be physical and rebound.”
Morgantown defeated John Marshall 76-34 in the only meeting between the two this season.
The second-seeded Hawks welcome the defending Class AAAA state champions and multi-time state player of the year, Alexis Bordas, and Wheeling Park to Baker’s Ridge for the fourth meeting this season.
UHS holds a 2-1 advantage over the Patriots, taking victories in the first two regular-season meetings before falling in their final game on February 6.
Bordas ended the regular season averaging 34 points, six rebounds, and four steals per contest. She scored a school-record 58 points, hitting a record 13 triples in a game earlier in the season.
“The biggest thing for us is setting our intensity level high from the jump and maintaining that all game,” UHS head coach Nick Lusk said. “We also need to rebound on both ends and share the basketball. We’re a veteran team with experience playing against high levels of competition, so hopefully that has prepared us.”
Lusk and his club will enjoy being on their home floor.
“I think that’s very important for us,” he said. “This is what you work all year for: to be at home with one win standing between you and the state tournament.”
Trinity Christian will be tasked with dethroning the three-time defending Class A state champions, Cameron.
Despite the Dragons losing a stellar class of seniors, including co-state player of the year Ashlynn Van Tassel, head coach Holly Pettit has her team right back where they’ve been in recent years: atop the Class A standings with a 16-3 record.
The Warriors fell 57-33 in the regular season’s only meeting between the two teams.
Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. in Cameron.
“They’re a strong team,” TCS coach Chad Williams said. “We played them recently and must give our best effort.”
