MORGANTOWN – The University High boys basketball team picked up a crucial victory on Baker’s Ridge Wednesday night over No. 8 Buckhannon-Upshur, 67-55, led by their starting five, four of whom scored in double figures for the Hawks.
Senior Glenn Brown (18) and junior Luke Byrer (17) combined for 35 points on 14 made field goals to pace UHS (10-3). Senior Eli Karpinski and junior Kaleil Lewis added 12 points each.
Junior Kyle Weaver rounded out the starting five with only two points, but they came on a pair of late free throws as the Hawks sealed the game. He added five huge defensive rebounds, dished two assists, and swiped a steal as well.
The Hawks used a 15-2 run in the final 5:30 of the second quarter to pull away and never looked back.
Senior Jarin Westfall scored a game-high 33 points to lead Buckhannon-Upshur (8-4).
“Sometimes it’s really just about seeing the ball go in the basket for our team,” UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said. “And most of that is just patience. When we work the ball and get good looks, we can knock down shots. That’s what I’ve been trying to preach to them. I called a couple of timeouts today just to tell them to slow down a little bit and quit trying to force things.”
His point was certainly proven, as the Hawks were efficient on the offensive end, shooting 26 of 56 (46%) from the field, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. The Hawks attempted 13 more shots than the Buccaneers and only committed one turnover through the first three quarters of the contest.
With just over five minutes to play in the first half, Westfall nailed a triple to give B-U a 19-16 lead, but Brown and fellow senior Jack Byrer sparked a run for UHS with a flurry of baskets and some key plays on the defensive end. Byrer’s steal and pass ahead to Brown capped a 9-0 run that forced a B-U timeout and gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 25-19.
That run swelled to 15-2 before the halftime break as the hosts carried a ten-point lead into the locker room.
Multiple B-U turnovers allowed the Hawks to grow the lead by four in the third.
The visitors opened the fourth with a quick 5-0 run, cutting the lead to nine, but UHS junior Jagger Barnes hit his lone field goal of the night at the right time with a massive triple to extend the lead back to 12, 56-44.
“We still have a few issues with some people being lazy and not playing their hardest when they’re on the floor, but that was addressed postgame,” Schmidle said. “That bothers me a little bit because we aren’t going to beat the top five teams in the state if you don’t play hard for 32 minutes every night. We aren’t ranked in the top five, and that’s why. Especially with where our class is right now, it’s anyone’s to win.”
Luke Byrer added five rebounds, three assists, and three steals to go along with his 17 points.
UHS will return to action on the road on Tuesday, visiting Wheeling Park.
BOX SCORE
University 67, Buckhannon-Upshur 55
B-U 12 9 18 16 – 55
UHS 13 18 22 14 – 67
Buckhannon-Upshur (8-4) – Westfall 11 9-11 33 Robinette 3 0-0 7 McDaniels 2 4-4 8 Frye 2 0-0 4 Warner 1 0-0 2 TOTALS 19 13-15 55
University (10-3) – Brown 7 2-2 18 L. Byrer 7 2-2 17 Lewis 5 2-4 12 Karpinski 5 1-2 12 Barnes 1 1-4 4 J. Byrer 1 0-0 2 Weaver 0 2-2 2 TOTALS 26 10-16 67
3pt goals made: University 5 (Brown 2 L. Byrer 1 Barnes 1 Karpinski 1); Buckhannon-Upshur 4 (Westfall 2 Robinette 2).
