MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Entering the week, most teams are at or nearing the midway point of their regular season. With just more than a month before postseason play, below is a look of the bigger picture in each class to this point.
Class AAA
— Cabell Midland (10-0) and Wheeling Park (10-0) are the only remaining teams without a loss.
The Patriots have won seven of their 10 games by double digits, while one-point victories over Parkersburg and University are among Park’s top highlights.
The Knights have eight double figure wins, including five by at least 20 points. After prevailing in close calls against Boyd County (Ky.) and Parkersburg South, Cabell Midland won all three games at the Carolina Invitational. A few days later, the Knights returned home and beat a quality Winfield team, 72-61.
— Greenbrier East is 9-1 and earned a quality 67-61 win over George Washington in its most recent game. The Spartans won their first two games at the Palm Beach Classic, before suffering their first and only loss to Reynoldsburg (OH), 44-32.
— Two-time defending state champion Parkersburg is 7-5 overall and fresh off an 11-point victory against Huntington. The Big Reds had previously played eight consecutive games against out-of-state teams, which they split with a 4-4 mark.
— South Charleston (7-1) is unbeaten outside of a loss to Winfield back on Dec. 20. The Black Eagles play host to Cabell Midland on Tuesday.
— Woodrow Wilson (5-1) has won four straight since its only loss to Parkersburg.
— Huntington (7-2), Preston (8-2) and Martinsburg (5-2) have all had their fair share of success.
The Highlanders, however, have games looming against George Washington, University, Cabell Midland, Wheeling Park and Woodrow Wilson later this month
The Knights followed up a 20-point win over Bridgeport with a 10-point loss against University. The defending runner-up Hawks are 7-4 and soon face Huntington and Wheeling Park.
The Bulldogs have won four straight games, including a narrow 45-41 victory over Musselman last week.
Class AA
— At 9-0 overall, North Marion is the lone unbeaten. The Huskies won their first three games by a total of 19 points, but each of the next six victories has been by at least 15 points. Scoring hasn’t been an issue for NMHS, which has managed at least 60 points in every contest.
— Winfield (8-1) has bounced back nicely from its only loss to Cabell Midland with convincing wins over Hurricane and Nitro.
— Defending state champion Fairmont Senior (7-2) has yet to lose in the new year, though it ended 2019 with a one-point setback to Frankfort. With a one-point loss to North Marion also on the resume, Frankfort (9-1) has shown it’s among the elite Class AA teams.
— Wayne (9-1) won six straight to start the season and brings a three-game win streak into this week, having only lost to North Marion — though it was a convincing defeat at 68-50.
— Chapmanville has won six straight to improve to 9-2. The Tigers take on the Pioneers this Thursday.
— Westside (7-3) has dropped three of four since a 6-0 start. One of the losses was to defending runner-up Wyoming East (6-3), which has been quite streaky. The Warriors began their season with three straight wins, before losing three consecutive games.
— Lincoln (5-2) has eight remaining games scheduled in January and will likely learn a lot more about itself over the next two weeks.
— Lincoln County (7-3) has scored at least 59 points in all seven wins.
— Petersburg (9-2) is currently on its third three-game win streak of the season.
Class A
— Saint Joseph Central (12-0) again appears to be a clear favorite and has been handling out-of-state opponents with ease for the most part. Ten of the 12 Irish wins are against out-of-state foes and seven have come by at least 14 points, including the last four. Saint Joseph has a showdown tonight against North Allegheny (Pa.), of which postgame coverage will be available from MetroNews.
— If any team is likely to seriously challenge Saint Joseph, it’s defending-runner up Parkersburg Catholic. The Crusaderettes (9-0) handled Wheeling Central Catholic last week and have three of the better players in the state in Madeline Huffman, Leslie Huffman and Aaliyah Brunny.
— Summers County (8-3) had won seven of eight before last week’s 60-52 loss to Pocahontas County. The Warriors (9-3) are enjoying a strong season and their only other losses have come to Greenbrier East and Chapmanville.
— Gilmer County (9-2) had won six straight prior to last week’s loss to Wayne.
— Though it has faced quite a difficult schedule, Wheeling Central is 6-6 and has yet to win more than two straight games.
— Madonna has won eight of its first 10 games, while Tug Valley, Williamstown and Midland Trail are each 7-3.