CHARLESTON, W.Va. – University advanced into the Class AAA boys basketball state tournament semifinals for a second straight year on Wednesday night, beating rival and No. 8 Morgantown 70-51 from the Charleston Civic Center in the quarterfinals.
“We don’t pride ourselves on the way we start, but we pride ourselves on the way we finish,” said University coach Joe Schmidle. “After we got a little settled down, following a timeout, we settled in and took some better shots.
“We got the ball in the hands of No. 3 (Kaden Metheny) and he made some big plays coming off of some picks. We just needed to see the ball go through the basket a couple of times.”
The top rated Hawks (25-1) fell in an early 11-0 hole and didn’t score until the 2:52 mark of the first quarter.
But once the shots started falling, University went on a 10-0 run and eventually took a 25-19 lead into the break.
“Our shot selection was good,” Schmidle said. “That’s something we’ve worked on a lot since last year. Most of the time these guys are very disciplined.
“When they have to be patient we can and when we have an opportunity to run, we run – that’s what we like to do,” he continued. “These guys aren’t just good basketball players, their basketball IQ is pretty high.”
After missing its first five shots of the game, University went 71 percent from the floor the rest of the way, hitting 22 of its final 31 attempts.
The Hawks were 8 of 12 from 3.
“Don’t panic,” Metheny said of his mindset with the early deficit. “Just go back to our principles, back to where we came from. It’s worked all year. We had to be patient and not panic.”
UHS expanded that lead early in the second half, using a 14-1 run in the third quarter to take a 46-29 lead into the fourth.
“Last year we panicked and shot ourselves out of the game (in the semifinals vs. Huntington),” said University senior Clay Bailey. “We just kept on chucking up 3s. But this year, we were patient and we trusted each other. We took smart shots and played good defense, which got us back in it.”
Metheny was near perfect from the floor in the win, hitting 9 of 11 shots and finishing with 23 points. Ethan Ridgeway added 12 points and Bailey scored 11 points as well.
But it was the production of sophomore K.J. McClurg, who averages five points per game, off the bench who contributed 14 points, hitting two shots from3.
“He really came in and did a great job,” Ridgeway said of McClurg. “We drove to the basket really well, penetrated and kicked it out good. They’re a really good defensive team and they like to pressure the ball – we had to get to the rim, kick out and get our shots. It worked.”
It was the fourth meeting between the two rivals this season with University winning all four games – Morgantown, though, played the Hawks to within three points back on March 2 in the sectional final.
“To be honest, I was like ‘dang, four times in one year?’” Metheny said of the matchup. “But then once we got to practice and started scouting them, I felt comfortable. It’s always a challenge against them and they always bring their ‘A’ game. It’s always fun though.”
Morgantown (17-9), which was 7-7 back on January 26, was led on Wednesday by Garrett Haines who scored 15 points (5 of 5 from 3). Cam Selders scored 13 in the loss as well.
“These guys just never stopped,” said Morgantown coach Dave Tallman. “Our defense carried us all year. Giving up 42 points per game on the season gives you a chance to win and that’s what we did all year against a tough schedule. The game was at our pace, I thought, but our shots didn’t drop and theirs did.
“They made very tough, contested shots. I think our guys were excited to get another shot at them,” he continued. “We beat them four times two years ago and they beat us four times this year. They may go cut down the nets and bring the trophy back to Morgantown – honestly, I hope they do. They have some kids who have worked very hard and they deserve it.”
University moves on to face either No. 4 Martinsburg or No. 5 Woodrow Wilson in the semifinals on Friday at 5:30 p.m.
“There are no bad teams down here,” Schmidle said. “We played Woodrow earlier in the year and beat them at their place – but in my opinion that was the best game we’ve played all year and we beat them by 12.
“They’re very talented and Martinsburg is very athletic,” he continued. “Both teams are similar in style of play in man-to-man and up-tempo, get it up and down the floor, in your face. That’s fine – it doesn’t matter. These guys will be ready.”
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