WHEELING, W.Va. — The girls athletics programs at Wheeling Park were part of the six statewide winners announced this past week for the inaugural MVB Bank Champions Cup, honoring overall academic and athletic success.
Girls basketball coach Ryan Young was a guest on the MetroNews Statewide Sportsline, discussing the Patriots’ Class AAA girls MVB Bank Champions Cup win.
“With academic achievement, everything starts at home,” Young said. “When you have the type of students who understand that academics come first, when they come to school, they take care of business there before they get out on the field (or court). Our students are pretty driven in most areas.”
Wheeling Park this past season made the state tournament semifinals, erasing a 15-point second half deficit in the quarterfinals to beat George Washington.
“It was fun once we made the comeback – it wasn’t so much before that,” Young said. “We just got some momentum in the third quarter and carried it over to the rest of the game. I think we had a few more seasoned players than they did and I think that made a difference.
“We have a lot of players back who were a part of that game, but we lost a lot of key seniors who played a lot of tournament minutes, four games in the last two years there,” he continued. “But from a talent standpoint, we should be in pretty good shape next year.”
The complete interview with Young is posted above.