MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — In his 24 years as a head coach, Bridgeport’s Dave Marshall has seen just about every type of basketball roster possible. This year’s group is unique. With the exception of returning starting guard Anthony Spatafore, almost all of the Indians are getting their first look at varsity-level hoops this winter.
“A couple of them got a few minutes here and there last year. It think that’s what some of the struggles, if you want to call them struggles, we had before Christmas was them getting a feel for this level and this type of intensity,” Marshall said. “We’re really pleased with where they are coming. They are understanding their roles a little bit better.”
Juniors Zach Ayoob, Tyler Randolph, Ashton Curry and Ben Bifano have been the primary starters alongside Spatafore. The senior guard leads the team in scoring, rebounds and assists. Marshall says that Spatafore and the team’s only other senior, Brennan Cropp, have developed the young players around them.
“It was also a growing process for ‘Spats’. We call him ‘Anthony Spats’. He really wanted to trust the guys but he knew they hadn’t been in that situation. He was kind of putting a lot of pressure on himself to do more. And in the process, I think he was frustrating himself. To watch him with the success we have had recently, I really think it is a lot of him letting the game flow and trusting the guys around him.”
Despite the team’s relative youth, the Indians are thriving. Bridgeport brings an 11-4 record into Saturday’s road trip to Oak Hill. After a 2-3 start, the Indians have won nine of their last ten games. The only loss came by a point at an East Fairmont team that has been beaten just once.
“Right there before the holiday break we had a couple really good practices. Guys weren’t hanging their heads. We knew there was talent there. But you worry about when you are playing the Wheeling Park’s and the Fairmont Senior’s before Christmas and you drop some tough games, you wonder about their psyche. You come out of that and you get a couple wins and you start to getting their traction. You could see it in how they practiced and how they went about their business.”
As recently as 2020, Bridgeport competed in Class AA. After a round of realignment and the creation of a fourth class, the Indians are now competing in Class AAAA, with the smallest enrollment in the group.
“We don’t have the kind of depth that maybe a Morgantown has, or one of those teams yet. But we are working on it. I like the 16 guys we’ve got in the varsity program right now. We continue to work and try to develop that.”
Bridgeport won their sectional championship last March before falling to Wheeling Park by five points in the regional. Marshall believes his team has the ability to emerge from Region I and make it to Charleston.
“Our section has got a very difficult University High team and Buckhannon-Upshur has become a real big rival for us. If you are fortunate enough to crawl out of that, you could get Morgantown and Wheeling Park in the other end of that region. It is going to be a battle for us but I like the guys’ approach.”
A decade has passed since Marshall led the Bridgeport girls basketball team to back-to-back state title game appearances. Led by future Division II national champion Miki Glenn, the Indians won the Class AA championship in 2013.
“About every year, I will send Miki Glenn a message and say, ‘Congratulations, this is the ninth anniversary’. I definitely have to send one this year on the tenth anniversary. Those are great memories.
“What a lot of people forget is that the team the year before that was better. But we were up in the big class [Class AAA] and things just didn’t go well for us in the championship. But those runs and getting to work with those kids, I will treasure until the day I die.”