Defense Paves Way for BHS Boys Basketball Team's Trip to Class AAA State Tournament
By Chris Johnson on March 16, 2025
There are a lot of things to like about what the Bridgeport High School boys basketball team has accomplished thus far in the 2024-25 season.
The Indians have the best record in the state, regardless of classification, at 23-1. They are riding a 20-game win streak. They ended the regular season as the top-ranked team in Class AAA.
The earned the No. 1 seed for the Class AAA Region II tournament, which they navigated through with two wins, against Berkeley Springs and Hampshire, by an average margin of victory of 40 points en route to claiming a co-regional championship and the No. 1 seed in the state tournament which begins on Tuesday at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
Bridgeport has depth with a versatile eight-man rotation. They have a balanced scoring attack with five players averaging between 8.3 and 12.7 points per game. They have inside options, they have perimeter shooters, they excel in both the half-court game as well as the transition game.
And they can play defense.
In typical fashion, a Dave Marshall-coached basketball team hangs its hat on its ability to defend.
“The kids have bought into it and that’s every guy on the team,” Marshall said. “It’s something we have been building on. We’ve had teams that where we wanted them to be defensively by the end of the season. We’ve had strong defensive players like Zach Ayoob.
“This year’s team, I think because there are so many guys that have played some significant minutes before coming into this year, it’s been since Day 1 that they have bought into it.”
What the Indians have done through the first 24 games is bordering on being mind-boggling.
One goal Marshall has for his team in every game is to hold an opponent to 10 points or less in every quarter.
That’s a lofty goal but it’s one the Indians accomplished in 58 quarters this season.
In the two postseason victories, BHS held Berkeley Springs and Hampshire to 10 points or less in seven of the eight quarters. Berkeley Springs managed to get to 12 in the second quarter of the regional opener.
In the second halves of the two playoff games, the Indians have allowed a total of 16 points. They nearly forced two scoreless third quarters as Berkeley Springs hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left in the third and Hampshire could manage just two points over the 8-minute stretch.
“We always hear about matchup problems on offense but I think in a lot of ways we are a matchup problem on defense for teams,” Marshall said. “We’re pretty good in a halfcourt game and we can be pretty good at applying pressure and forcing turnovers and turning those into transition baskets.
“With those eight guys, we have four frontcourt players (Phoenix Sickles, Carter Zuliani, Donovan Williams, Jax McDougal) and we have four backcourt players (Landon Sanders, Jack Spatafore, Anderson McDougal, Gavin Wiliams) that we can rotate through and mix and match with different combinations depending on matchups and we are blessed that we have some guys that are strong and quick and unselfish and they take pride in playing defense.”
In 21 of Bridgeport’s 24 games, the opponent has been held to 50 points or less. The three games in which an opponent scored more than 50 were a 52-44 loss to Nitro, a 59-53 win against University and a 67-51 win against Preston.
Two of those opponents are tournament team as Nitro is the No. 4 in Class AAA and University is the No. 6 seed in Class AAAA.
One of those victories where they surrendered 50 or less was against Elkins (62-49) who the Indians will face in the opening round of the state tournament at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. (Editor’s Note: More on the BHS-Elkins game coming Tuesday morning on Connect-Bridgeport).
Eight times this season, BHS has held an opponent to 40 points or less and six times they have allowed 30 points or less.
Editor’s Note: Top photo:shows Gavin Williams (12) going for a steal and bottom photo shows Landon Sanders defending a player.
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