HAMBLETON, W.Va. — Tucker County and appearances in the boys state basketball tournament were almost sure bets for nearly two decades, so much so that fans routinely booked hotel reservations in Charleston months in advance. After the streak was broken four years ago, the Mountain Lions have resurrected the program. Tucker entered the week with a 15-2 record, one of the best in Class A. Head coach Daniel Helmick says defense has been a constant and shot-making needs to follow.
“Two years ago when I came in, we didn’t make shots in practice,” Helmick said. “We decided that we better guard people. So that’s where we started two years ago. Last year, we guarded and made shots in practice but didn’t make shots in games. This year, we are making some shots in games. When we do, we’re pretty good.”
This year’s Tucker County roster is still a young one with only two upperclassmen on the squad. Hayden Wamsley and Zach Long make up the senior class.
“Two years ago, we were on the other side of that. Now we get to give our young kids reps and get better for the future. That’s big.”
2020 was Helmick’s first year leading the program and the Mountain Lions took their lumps, winning only four games.
“It is night and day. At practices, kids are early and they are putting in extra time. We had the best offseason we have had. Kids are buying in. Winning cures a lot of things. That’s what is happening now.”
Last year, Tucker went 9-7 and returned to the state tournament, only to draw eventual champion Man in the first round.
“We finally broke through and got back to Charleston, which was a given back here in the old days. We ran into Man, who was obviously really good. That really motivated us for the offseason.”
Entering this week, no player on the Mountain Lion roster was averaging double digits in points per game but five players were averaging between seven and nine. Ashton Lyclitter leads the team in scoring at 9.8 points per game.
Helmick was a 1996 graduate of Tucker County High School and played for legendary head coach Tom Gutshall, who collected 503 wins. Helmick is trying to model his team after the ones that Coach Gutshall led.
“It is effort and accountability. If you sub a kid, don’t pout if you didn’t do anything. Be accountable for your stuff in the classroom and in the weight room.
Large crowds have returned for games at the Hambleton school, which sits 3,500 feet above sea level between the communities of Parsons and Thomas.
“The community has bought in and everybody is back. Basketball is big here. Basketball has been big here for a while. What else are you going to do?”
Tucker’s path to the state tournament will once again run through a challenging region that contains defending Class A runner-up Pendleton County and upstart Tygarts Valley.
“Pendleton has a nice team and they still guard. [Tygarts Valley’s] Tom Wamsley’s kids play hard as heck. It is going to be tough for us. But it is exciting. I would rather it be that way. You don’t just want to walk in there. You want to be prepared. Playing those two teams, if we get there, we earned it.”
Helmick says despite the impressive start to the season, his team must continue to improve as the postseason nears.
“Sometimes we are a little loose with the ball. We have nice size but sometimes we don’t block out. Taking care of the ball and blocking out, we have to get that fixed if we are going to compete down in Charleston.”