West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

[Layton]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Looks like it's going to be a down year for the lady toppers after having to replace a lot of talent losing by 16 to mercy and 42 to California

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Chevydude89:

Report for baptism and First Crutch Communion tomorrow at 10am

[FlyHawk98]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Wasn't able to watch, but WL beat West Chester 117-91.

[Hilltoppernation]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Yup, as I predicted in my earlier post, a 25 point plus win by WestLib....Let me first start off by saying I was really impressed with West Chester and their ability to put up some offense tonight, they are much further ahead of last years team who wanted to play in the 60 or 70's. I think West Chester will be a major factor in the PSAC. Now with that being said, West Liberty has added something to the mix which might bold well when they play the Wheeling Jesuit's and Fairmount State's of the world... "Athleticism". Monteroso is better than I thought, Guillozet is savy and could be West Lib's next 2,000 point scorer, and Meininger has come out of nowhere and looked like he could be the third scorer that WL needed. Earlier observation is that last years team is betting at shooting (Bonifant ofcourse), but this team is more athletic and plays harder. To add to that Cheyney gave Notre Dame all it can handle today and we know how that turned out yesterday for Cheyney against WLib. It's going to be a long season but if your going to beat West Liberty this year it's not going to be just because they missed their shots.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Dan Monteroso is just silly! Starts a Friday night basketball game and scores 12 points in limited minutes (15)...Turns around and starts for the football team on Saturday at noon and leads the team with 8 receptions for 145 yards (and 2 TDs)...Then four hours later starts for the basketball team again and plays 23 minutes while scoring 16 points! I bet "Dynamite" Dan slept soundly last night! Anyone see the wrestling team results from yesterday? Wouldn't surprise me to see his name in the winners column at 195!

If this is what passes for "shaking off the rust" for him, future opponents should take note!

[timbertopper]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Don't read too much into West Chester's loss to Notre Dame on Friday. West Chester held Malik Jackson, last season's PSAC East Freshman of the Year, out of the game for "disciplinary" reasons. Jackson looked pretty good against West Liberty with 23 points. The Rams struggled with the pace, as many teams do early in the season, and were in foul trouble most of the night but they played hard and made some shots. Would not be surprised to see them back in the regional. Good team and good coach.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Don't read too much into West Chester's loss to Notre Dame on Friday. West Chester held Malik Jackson, last season's PSAC East Freshman of the Year, out of the game for "disciplinary" reasons. Jackson looked pretty good against West Liberty with 23 points. The Rams struggled with the pace, as many teams do early in the season, and were in foul trouble most of the night but they played hard and made some shots. Would not be surprised to see them back in the regional. Good team and good coach.

Second game of the year and already being held out for disciplinary reasons?? Not a good way to start!!

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Second game of the year and already being held out for disciplinary reasons?? Not a good way to start!!

Boat, Malik Jackson did play vs WL in the 2nd game...he was held out of West Chester's first game on Friday...Presumably something he did in the offseason or preseason...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Malik is a real nice player (and only a true sophomore). I think that's going to be a real good team come Jan-Feb. They have a lot of new faces blending together. Lots of talent. I look for them to win the PSAC East.

Some nice games tonight. Findlay at Fairmont ... Bowie at Indiana.

[IUP Extra Mile]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Malik is a real nice player (and only a true sophomore). I think that's going to be a real good team come Jan-Feb. They have a lot of new faces blending together. Lots of talent. I look for them to win the PSAC East.

Some nice games tonight. Findlay at Fairmont ... Bowie at Indiana.

Agreed on all fronts..West Chester is going to be good...Good guard play, can shoot 3's, and BIG underneath. Not as familiar with PSAC East teams this year, but would like to see the team that beats them. I was at the WL / WC game..and they are an athletic, big bunch. Impressed...

Also tonight is the night I wish I could watch those two games on "ESPN D2" (a man can wish, right). There's enough other iterations of ESPN out there, they probably just haven't figured out a way to monetize D2 games yet...

Rumor was that Findlay took it to WL in a scrimmage, so will be interesting to see their result vs. everyone's favorite poor shooting team, Fairmont...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

haha ... I actually heard Fairmont shot fairly well the other day.

You should be at the KCAC tonight. Joe may be a home dog in Vegas ... that's pretty rare.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

On tap tonight is D&E. Traditionally, D&E is not much of a challenge for the Toppers but the Senators did take Cal to OT before falling to them.

I see D&E hanging close for the first half but fading down the stretch to lose by 25 in what will amount to a scrimmage for the Toppers.

[FlyHawk98]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

Won't be close. Not sure why West Lib even scheduled these guys. One of the few games that won't be a sell out because people don't want to waste their time.

West Lib by as many as they want. Could possibly win by 40.

[boatcapt]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

It's WAY early to pass judgment, good or bad, on this years team but I will anyway:

What I Like:

Seven players averaging double figures.
Eight players averaging 10+ minutes and our top minute getter at 26.5 PG.
Eric Meineger looking like he will be the guy to step up (16 PPG average...692 shooting %).
Dan Monteroso - If this is him "rusty," the future is bright (13.5 PPG...703 shooting %)
Clay Gauillozet - True freshman has had two solid games off as the first man off the bench.
Rebounding - Grossenbscher is leading the way but we have five guys averaging 4 per game.

Don't like:

3 pt shooting % - .375 ain't going to cut it.
Grossenbacher at #2 in 3 pt attempts - He is our big and I'd prefer he spend more time inside.
Too few offensive rebounds. Critical if we are going to shoot a lower than expected 3 pt %.
Monteroso 0 for 2 from 3. I appreciate he is rusty and not wanting to force his shot, but we need him to take/make about 4 per game minimum.

But on average, I'm pretty happy with what I've seen. Address the rough areas and we could be a very good team!

[FlyHawk98]

Re: West Liberty Hilltopper Basketball

D&E kept it much closer than I expected.

West Lib wins 87-74.

Hoehn lead the way with 27 points. Dennis with 15, Grossenbacher with 15.