Youthful Martinsburg coming along after early setbacks

MARTINSBURG, W.Va, — One of the challenges after winning a state title is the carry over into next season. Martinsburg this year has had a whole new make-up from the senior-laden experienced group that took home the crown in Class AAA a season ago.

Head coach Dave Rogers’ club took a couple of lumps early this year, losing three of their first seven games, including blowout loses to rivals Washington and Hedgesville. Since then, the Bulldogs (8-3) have reeled off four straight games and look to be rounding into form.

But with Mother Nature throwing a wrench into the schedules for teams around the state, building a chemistry has had its challenges.

“When you’re young and trying to teach and get continuity going on, (a break) can really bother you,” Rogers said.

With so many underclassmen in the mix this year, a slow start was almost inevitable, but Rogers thinks the Bulldogs are starting to get it, following a 61-48 win over Morgantown and 83-55 drubbing of previously unbeaten Musselman.

“We’re starting a freshman at the point, two sophomores and two senior and we’re coming off the bench with another sophomore, so we are very young and working hard to get better,” he said. “We’re starting to understand what we want and what we have to have, especially defensively.”

During the four game winning streak, the Bulldogs have been holding opponents to 43 points a game and they have been scoring the ball better – a weakness of the team in the early going.

“We have not been scoring or shooting the basketball well,” Rogers said. “We’ve been getting good shots, hopefully they will start to fall.”

And while the shots have started to fall of late for the Bulldogs, they’ll need that consistency to continue down the stretch as the eastern panhandle is loaded once again.

“Clearly the leader over here is Washington, they’re in the same situation we were in last year,” he said. “They had almost all juniors last year and now they’re seniors and it shows, they’re a very good basketball team.”

Martinsburg, meanwhile, has a pivital rematch on Friday against Hedgesville – a game that will serve as another measuring stick for a young Bulldogs’ team overall.