CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — Notre Dame has jumped out to a 7-1 start on the boys basketball season, looking to get back to the state tournament in Charleston after a heart-breaking loss there a year ago.
The much-talked about 49-48 defeat to three-seed and eventual champion Magnolia in the Class A quarterfinals — where Notre Dame led by 13 points with four minutes to go and by 10 points at the 2:06 mark — has been a huge source of motivation for this year’s team.
“We’re a lot more experienced this year than last year,” said junior guard Jarrod West. “Basically, everyone who is on the team this year was in the state tournament last year, it just adds fuel to the fire. But that was probably the worst loss that I’ve ever taken.
“It was a mixture of the game and a mixture of what I thought I could have done to helped win the game or finish it off,” West said. “I had a lot of close friends on that team who graduated last year. But, the fact that we lost to the state champs and maybe gave them the best game down there — that definitely hurts.”
The Irish lost three seniors from that team from a year ago, including two starters — Phil Chafin and Alex Demary. Starters back include West, senior Jordan Miller and junior Noah Bohanna.
“You definitely have to be able to deal with adversity,” West said. “You either have to get better or you can just fold. If you want to succeed, in anything, you can’t fold. You have to get back up and work harder, especially in sports.”
Notre Dame’s lone loss this season came to 7-0 Tug Valley, 58-55.
The Irish have impressive wins already over St. Joseph Central (8-2) 68-65, Tucker County (7-1) 57-43 and Trinity (8-1) 67-42. West scored 28 points in the win over Trinity as the recruiting process continues for him.
Some of West’s scholarship offers include Marshall, James Madison, Liberty and Longwood. Michigan has also shown a lot of interest as well, among others.
“I think I’ve definitely gotten a lot better and my game overall has matured,” said West, who is listed at 5-foot-11. “Always being the smallest guy on the floor is just life, I can’t really do anything about that. But I can get stronger, more athletic and just better overall. From my freshman year to now, I’m totally different mentally and physically.
“My freshman year, I couldn’t really go to the paint and finish a layup with contact,” he continued. “AAU has helped me tremendously as well, going up against 6-foot-7 athletes who are bigger and stronger than me. That’s really helped my game mature.”
Individual accolades and goals aside, West has redemption on his mind for the Irish overall this season.
“We were the No. 6 seed last year and that definitely wasn’t the seed that we wanted – especially after being preseason No. 2,” West said. “We’re trying to get back to the tournament this year and grab a top three seed. We have to keep getting better to accomplish that.”
NOTRE DAME 2015-2016 Boys Basketball Schedule |
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1 | 12/10/15 | 6:00PM | A – | PHILIP BARBOUR (@ GRAFTON TRNY) | 71 | – | 60 | W |
2 | 12/11/15 | 9:15PM | A – | GRAFTON | 60 | – | 50 | W |
3 | 12/14/15 | 7:30PM | H – | TYGARTS VALLEY MIDDLE/SENIOR HIGH | 80 | – | 57 | W |
4 | 12/22/15 | 7:00PM | H – | TUG VALLEY | 55 | – | 58 | L |
5 | 12/28/15 | 7:00PM | H – | BEALLSVILLE, OH H.S. | 102 | – | 40 | W |
6 | 12/29/15 | 7:00PM | H – | SAINT JOSEPH CENTRAL | 68 | – | 65 | W |
7 | 01/08/16 | 7:30PM | A – | TUCKER COUNTY | 57 | – | 43 | W |
8 | 01/09/16 | 7:30PM | H – | TRINITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL | 67 | – | 42 | W |
9 | 01/13/16 | 7:30PM | H – | PARKERSBURG CATHOLIC | – | |||
10 | 01/15/16 | 7:30PM | H – | CLAY-BATTELLE | – | |||
11 | 01/20/16 | 7:30PM | A – | WHEELING CENTRAL CATHOLIC | – | |||
12 | 01/23/16 | TBAPM | A – | POCAHONTAS COUNTY | – | |||
13 | 01/25/16 | 7:30PM | A – | BRIDGEPORT SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL | – | |||
14 | 01/27/16 | 7:30PM | A – | TRINITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL | – | |||
15 | 01/30/16 | 2:00PM | H – | POCAHONTAS COUNTY | – | |||
16 | 02/03/16 | 7:30PM | A – | PARKERSBURG CATHOLIC | – | |||
17 | 02/06/16 | 7:30PM | H – | BISHOP DONAHUE HIGH SCHOOL | – | |||
18 | 02/13/16 | TBAPM | A – | SAINT JOSEPH CENTRAL | – | |||
19 | 02/16/16 | 7:30PM | A – | CLAY-BATTELLE | – | |||
20 | 02/19/16 | 7:30PM | H – | TUCKER COUNTY | – | |||
21 | 02/23/16 | 7:30PM | A – | TYGARTS VALLEY MIDDLE/SENIOR HIGH | – | |||
22 | 02/26/16 | 7:30PM | H – | CHARLESTON CATHOLIC | – | |||
wins: 7 lost: 1 ties: 0 |