West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[FlyHawk98]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

West Lib wins by 7.

Monteroso scores around 30 points or so in the second half. Also a big game by David Dennis.

Great atmosphere at the ASRC tonight with a packed house.

[Layton]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Don't think Gross scored, Smith, Meini, didn't play, kirkbride came in for a very short time, crazy how short our bench is compared to years past but winning even more

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

What a way to win! WLU takes a 7 point W over previously undefeated Fairmont 88-81 to take the inside track to the MEC title and to be the host for the NCAA Atlantic Regionals. Tale of two halfs for the Toppers...34% shooting in the first half (23% from 3) and 56% (66% from 3) in the second! Monteroso is a big game assasin! He plays very good in every game but he is just a stone cold killer in the biggest games. One could argue that he "snuck up" on Fairmont in the first game but you can't say that about this game...he goes off for 31 points with 28 of those in the second half! Dennis has been having problems in recent games and last night we REALLY needed him to step up and be a strong #2 scorer...he answered the bell in a big way with 25 points. Hoehn was solid with 14 points. If we can get 70'ish points down the stretch from what should be our "Big 3," we should be in every game! If the next 8 players can combine for 20 points every might, we will be hard to beat.

Defense held Fairmont to their second lowest total of the season and holds them to 37% shooting on the night. We'll win most games if we can hold our opponents to below 40% shooting!

20-1...Not bad...bad at all.

[Sportsnut]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

What seems strange is WL beat them with Gross not even scoring. He should at least get 4-6 points off offensive rebounds and putbacks and several 3's as he normally does. He did a good job of staying out of foul trouble after getting his second early in the game. DM is just a great athlete with speed and jumping ability and Dennis was shooting better than usual. Great win.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Added drama for the MEC Tournament as Regional hosting likely goes to the winner. Pending Wheeling doesn't stage some interference, of course. MEC tournament is neutral site, correct?

So, a coin flip determines No. 1 seed in MEC? That's huge with the winner avoiding Wheeling in the tournament.

Monteroso destroyed them yesterday. It won't be a fun film review in Fairmont today.

Great win yesterday.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Added drama for the MEC Tournament as Regional hosting likely goes to the winner. Pending Wheeling doesn't stage some interference, of course. MEC tournament is neutral site, correct?

So, a coin flip determines No. 1 seed in MEC? That's huge with the winner avoiding Wheeling in the tournament.

Monteroso destroyed them yesterday. It won't be a fun film review in Fairmont today.

Yes and no...It's in Charleston at the Civic Center.

For any team other than Fairmont or WLU to host, both teams would need to lose in the first round of the MEC tourney.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

That's I meant. Sorry. Added drama as I assumed those two get to final.

[DownLow55]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Don't think Gross scored, Smith, Meini, didn't play, kirkbride came in for a very short time, crazy how short our bench is compared to years past but winning even more

I don't think there is a drastic difference in how short or deep our bench is this year as compared to past years.... especially last year. Case in point, when you play a team such as Fairmont match-ups are quite different than against other teams. You probably are going to default to a quicker line-up when facing Jolly and Wells in the line-up--- especially when they are on the floor together. Some of the players you mentioned might not match-up well against Fairmont as they would say vs. a team such as Shepherd. Last year vs Fairmont (away) we played 10 players, but used a first half platoon to sub 5 players in.... in which 3 players never saw any action in the second and the other 2 played a combined 9 minutes of the available 100 2nd half minutes. 180 of the 200 minutes were played with 6 players . Here are some other comparisons of non starter/bench utilization vs Fairmont State

Last year at Faimont- 10 WL players saw action (see above)
This year at Fairmont- 7 players saw action Note: Griffin and Guillozet did not see any action.

Last year at WLU vs Fairmont- 8 players saw action
This year at WLU vs Fairmont- 8 players saw action

This years team is now starting to hit it's stride and I think with Griffen and Guillozet meshing with the veterans--- this team will be a tough out come tourney time.

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

I don't think there is a drastic difference in how short or deep our bench is this year as compared to past years.... especially last year. Case in point, when you play a team such as Fairmont match-ups are quite different than against other teams. You probably are going to default to a quicker line-up when facing Jolly and Wells in the line-up--- especially when they are on the floor together. Some of the players you mentioned might not match-up well against Fairmont as they would say vs. a team such as Shepherd. Last year vs Fairmont (away) we played 10 players, but used a first half platoon to sub 5 players in.... in which 3 players never saw any action in the second and the other 2 played a combined 9 minutes of the available 100 2nd half minutes. 180 of the 200 minutes were played with 6 players . Here are some other comparisons of non starter/bench utilization vs Fairmont State

Last year at Faimont- 10 WL players saw action (see above)
This year at Fairmont- 7 players saw action Note: Griffin and Guillozet did not see any action.

Last year at WLU vs Fairmont- 8 players saw action
This year at WLU vs Fairmont- 8 players saw action

This years team is now starting to hit it's stride and I think with Griffen and Guillozet meshing with the veterans--- this team will be a tough out come tourney time.

Went to game.
1) Key was half court defense, conditioning and smart shot selection.

2) FSU upheld my faith in at least 5 knucklehead playground plays a game that don't work when you legs are tired. Example, An unnecessary alley oop put air under the ball, which gave the trailing Monterosa time to launch and slap the alley oop against the backboard for a turnover that should have been a layup.

3) I question FSU decision to press WV aggressively in first half. WLU wears you out with their pressure without you helping them by pressing hard on defense. They had no legs in the 2nd half. By early in 2nd half, some of their star players were struggling. Bengaya had to come out 3 mins into second half.
4) Monterosa took over game, getting rebound and going coast to coast for a layup, running by defenders. His superior conditioning and Basketball IQ and just sheer ability were on display. FSU came back from 10 down to take lead with 5 mins left, but their tank was empty. Monterosa's first step got past defender and other defenders too gassed to help. He scored at will.
5) Most impressive was victory with Grossenbacher in foul trouble much of the game.
6) Averaged over 40% 3s as a team, Dennis unusually accurate. Impressive, given the pace of the game.
7) As time wound down, they kept ball in Hoehn or Monte's hands so they could not foul anyone else.
8) Great growth game for Clay, as he got shots blocked that he normally would make against other teams. Will serve him well in his career.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

All a moot point. WLU loses to Concord 107-104. This is a team that is all over the place. At any time they can throw up an absolute dud. No way they are even favored to get to the finals in region.

[Layton]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Just one of those games, concord shot over 60% for the whole game came back from a 20 point deficit and tied it but couldn't finish

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Just one of those games is the problem. Concord is a BAD team and a good consistent team should be able to beat them handily. Fact that WLU lost to them speaks volumes about this teams consistency. And make no mistake, the close final store doesn't tell the story of how WLU got their a$$es handed to them all night. We went on a furious run at the end of the game to tie the score but were behind by 15 to 20 points all night!

This years Toppers have enough talent to beat ANY team in the nation on many nights...but they also have the ability to lose to almost any team in the nation. That will work for most of the regular season when we are playing lesser caliber teams but in the NCAA tourney when every team is good, we are going to be in big trouble. Had we been playing one of the top teams in the Atlantic region last night, we would have lost by 40 points.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Just one of those games is the problem. Concord is a BAD team and a good consistent team should be able to beat them handily. Fact that WLU lost to them speaks volumes about this teams consistency. And make no mistake, the close final store doesn't tell the story of how WLU got their a$$es handed to them all night. We went on a furious run at the end of the game to tie the score but were behind by 15 to 20 points all night!

This years Toppers have enough talent to beat ANY team in the nation on many nights...but they also have the ability to lose to almost any team in the nation. That will work for most of the regular season when we are playing lesser caliber teams but in the NCAA tourney when every team is good, we are going to be in big trouble. Had we been playing one of the top teams in the Atlantic region last night, we would have lost by 40 points.

Didn't dissect the game like I usually do, but I agree Boat...They "could" win the region with effort / shooting like vs Fairmont...but close win vs Shepherd, close win vs Glenville in OT, and ugly, ugly loss to Concord, means they could lose first game in the regional...I guess it could have been considered a trap game...but trap games are usually against 'decent' teams, not at team you beat by 52 the first time...

Lots of ball to be played...but fairmont has inside track with winner of PSAC close behind as far as hosting...(IUP or SHIP or Kutz)

[cavsfan94]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Remaining games for West Liberty:
@ UVA-Wise
vs WV Wesleyan
vs Glenville St.
@ Urbana
@ Wheeling Jesuit
@ MEC Tournament

[Columbuseer]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Just one of those games is the problem. Concord is a BAD team and a good consistent team should be able to beat them handily. Fact that WLU lost to them speaks volumes about this teams consistency. And make no mistake, the close final store doesn't tell the story of how WLU got their a$$es handed to them all night. We went on a furious run at the end of the game to tie the score but were behind by 15 to 20 points all night!

This years Toppers have enough talent to beat ANY team in the nation on many nights...but they also have the ability to lose to almost any team in the nation. That will work for most of the regular season when we are playing lesser caliber teams but in the NCAA tourney when every team is good, we are going to be in big trouble. Had we been playing one of the top teams in the Atlantic region last night, we would have lost by 40 points.

I watched the Concord game. Here are my thoughts.

1) Fatigue - Plagues many teams at this time in Feb - just look at D1. Especially a team that exerts as much effort/energy as WLU. Their legs appeared heavy and quickness wasn't there. The effort was there, but it was not effective due to fatigue. I base this on:
a) Every player was a step slow in guarding their man in the half court offense. Too many Concord players were winning the first step and getting to the rim. In addition, they were shooting lights out from 3 and the FT line. WLU did not even commit that many fouls because of separation between the defender in going to the goal. Personally I would have considered going to a zone to rest the players and hope they did not kill me from 3 pt range.
b) Lack of offensive boards and crashing boards when ball was shot.
c) Players getting behind WLU defense for over the top passes for layups.
d) Losing some 50-50 balls - that never happens with a rested WLU team
e) The long road trip also adds to the fatigue. Concord gave them their first loss last year at Athens (I was there) and they shot lights out then too.

2) Eventually, the sheer tenacity and effort took its toll on Concord, enabling WLU to come back from 22 down with 13 minutes left and 15 down with 7 minutes left to tie with 6 seconds left at 104.

Positives:
1) Did not give up and almost pulled out a victory when every concord player was having a career night. Mental toughness was impressive, as they were able to hit some 3s in the second half. The body just was just having trouble responding. Rest will fix it.
2) Monterosa took over the game and scored 21 pts. He and Hoehn led the comeback.
3) MEC teams know each other really well. Other teams in regional will not have this advantage.



Their fatigue will not be a factor in regional until the finals. But it will be an even playing field then.

However, it looks like IUP has the inside track at this time for hosting the regional. But a lot of basketball to be played.