Wyoming East could be the team to beat, but Ravenswood and Magnolia will be in the high school playoffs chase.
The Class AA state championship has been owned by Wyoming East (New Richmond) and Ravenswood the last four years. In fact, the only titles not won by those teams have since moved to Class AAA – Winfield (2004) and Logan (2005). That could change this season, with Magnolia (New Martinsville), Weir (Weirton), Oak Hill, PikeView (Princeton) and Sissonville (Charleston) – which is on a 12-game winning streak – making noise.
Here’s a look at how the wide-open Class AA race should look when the State Tournament begins two weeks from Wednesday.
Class AA
Region 1, Section 1 – Magnolia has won two state titles under coach Dave Tallman and the teams split their season series. They’ll be the two survivors here.
Region 1, Section 2 – Defending state champion Ravenswood and Point Pleasant. Point Pleasant lost twice to the Red Devils by a combined seven points.
Final word – This is one of those regions where one team that deserves to be in the state tournament – Magnolia, Weir or Ravenswood – won’t be there.
Region 2, Section 1 – Frankfort (Ridgeley) is the best team among this group, but who is next? OK, Berkeley Springs.
Region 2, Section 2 – Grafton is top-seeded and Braxton County (Sutton) is second and that’s how it’ll finish.
Final word – Nobody expects the Region 2 co-champions to challenge for a state title, but we’ll go with the top seeds here – Frankfort and Grafton.
Region 3, Section 1 – Last year’s state runner-up, Wyoming East, and second-seeded Oak Hill will survive.
Region 3, Section 2 – All of PikeView’s losses are to quality opponents, including one to Bluefield, the second seed in this section.
Final word – Wyoming East is the best team in the region, but PikeView and Oak Hill split in the regular season. If Oak Hill has to visit PikeView for a state tournament berth, it could be the best regional co-final matchup. Give the homecourt edge to PikeView.
Region 4, Section 1 – Sissonville and Poca will survive in this top-heavy section.
Region 4, Section 2 – Another top-heavy section will advance Tug Valley (Williamson) and Chapmanville.
Final word – Tug Valley’s only home loss this year is to Huntington. The first-place team in Section 1 is the other tournament qualifier – Sissonville.
State tournament seeds
1. Wyoming East, 2. Ravenswood, 3. Magnolia, 4. PikeView, 5. Sissonville, 6. Tug Valley, 7. Frankfort, 8. Grafton
Rich Stevens, a sportswriter for the Charleston Daily Mail, covers West Virginia for MaxPreps.
