By Bill Nestor
When last week’s Class AAA’s boys basketball poll came out, it marked the first time this season that a pair of Harrison County teams were inside the top 10 rankings. Sure, the Bridgeport Indians have spent the majority of the season comfortably perched near the top of the standings. The Tribe has been close to perfect this year with their lone loss coming on the road to an explosive Nitro team early in the campaign.
The rankings came out last Tuesday and at that time, Bridgeport held an 11 and one record and was ranked second in AAA. The newcomer to the rankings was Robert C. Byrd. The Flying Eagles stumbled early, but have been streaking of late and were ranked 10th in the latest poll.
These two teams are defensive minded, athletic, and well-coached. Dave Marshall spent time at Robert C. Byrd as an assistant for former Flying Eagle Head Coach Bill Bennett before taking the job at Bridgeport. Current Robert C. Byrd Head Coach Basil Lucas was an assistant coach for legendary Bridgeport Coach Gene Randolph years ago.
The Indians are deserving of their lofty ranking, not just because of their record and the dominating way that they are getting the job done, but more importantly, because of the overall make-up of their talent-laden roster. In the first 12 games played, the Tribe had held opponents to 44 points or less nine times while scoring 60 or more in nine of these contests. Bridgeport’s average margin of victory is 26 points and only Buckhannon-Upshur has been able to get within single digits of this red-hot squad.
This year’s edition has a perfect blend of size inside and scoring perimeter play. In addition, Marshall has a deep bench at his disposal and six key seniors (Landon Sanders, Phoenix Sickles, Jack Spatafore, Carter Zuliani, Jax McDougal, and Donovan Williams) to provide leadership. Toss in a pair of sophomore sensations in Anderson McDougal and Gavin Williams and there is the recipe for success.
The Flying Eagles have won seven of their last eight games and picked up a fifth in a row last week with a win over Fairmont Senior. The Polar bears went into that match-up ranked fifth in Class AAA. It was a confidence building win for Robert C. Byrd because they had not beaten Senior since the 2020-21 season and they did it in dramatic fashion on a buzzer-beating follow-up by Junior Smith. The Flying Eagles were short-handed in that top 10 battle as both Anthony Barberrio and Manny Holmes missed the tilt due to injury. Rylee Dickerson picked up the slack for RCB, netting 18 points in a dominating fashion against a solid defensive team.
This Saturday, Bridgeport and Robert C. Byrd collide in Clarksburg. They met in Tribe Territory in mid December with the Indians breaking open a close first half battle in the second half with lockdown defense. The 2:00 PM start allows fans to take in the action and still have time for other weekend activities. Mow that Bridgeport is competing on the Class AAA level once again, this game carries even more importance with the postseason just around the corner.
That will do it for now! Until next week . . . take care and God Bless!!!
