By Rich Stevens
The much-anticipated matchups for semifinal Friday continued to come to fruition with fourth-seeded Woodrow Wilson surviving for a 69-58 victory over No. 5 Martinsburg in the Class AAA quarterfinals of the boys state high school basketball tournament on Thursday.
Despite No. 1 Morgantown (25-0) owning an unbeaten record, the 2016 Class AAA field is considered by many to be among the most wide open in recent memory.
One semifinal is locked in as the Mohigans (25-0) will face the Flying Eagles (24-2) at 5:30 p.m. Friday. Second-seeded and two-time defending champion Huntington (24-1) awaits the winner of the quarterfinal matchup between No. 3 Capital (22-3) and No. 6 Parkersburg South (18-7).
Morgantown defeated Capital (63-45) during the regular season. Huntington split with Capital (76-73 at home, 57-67 in the Mountain State Athletic Conference championship) and defeated Woodrow Wilson (71-65).
The Flying Eagles shot a woeful 22-of-41 from the foul line, but made eight of their last 10 to seal the verdict. A dominant advantage in rebounds also offset the foul shooting issues. Woodrow Wilson finished with 54 boards, compared to only 26 for the Bulldogs (21-5). Woodrow had 24 offensive rebounds, contributing to 19 second-chance points.
Many of those were the result of post players tipping missed shots to the guards.
“The long rebounds were the killer for us in this game,” Martinsburg’s Chris McAboy said. “If they would’ve fell short, I think we would’ve doubled the amount of rebounds we had.”
Martinsburg coach Dave Rogers, whose team is making its eighth state tournament appearance since seeding began in 2005, said Woodrow was more physical.
“I don’t think there’s any question Beckley was a little stronger than we were,” Rogers said. “It brings me way back to 1976 when we beat DuPont and we doubled them up on the boards.”
Martinsburg trailed by 10 with 1:40 left in the third. Over the next 4:41, the Bulldogs managed to wrestle away the lead and hold a 58-55 advantage.
A layup from senior Nequan Carrington, a putback from Courtney Walton and two foul shots from Breland Walton off the bench restored the lead to Woodrow for good.
“He brought a spark,” Woodrow coach Ron Kidd said of Breland Walton. “He’s really a starter. He doesn’t know that. Anytime you can have somebody come off the bench and do that, it’s awesome.”
Walton made all six of his foul shots, finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. Courtney Walton grabbed 16 boards and Carrington 12 to go with 17 rebounds. Ty Walton and Isaiah Francis had 12 points apiece.
Jessiya Villa had 19 points and four of Martinsburg’s 15 assists. Jarrell Jones added 14 points and Devonte Redman and Aboy had 10 each.
Woodrow Wilson is making its second consecutive appearance in the semifinals. Last season, the Flying Eagles dropped a 63-45 decision to top-seeded Parkersburg South.
Woodrow last played in the championship game as a No. 2 seed in 2013, dropping a 57-52 decision to top-seeded Morgantown.
