(Publisher’s Note: This feature was published about a month before the Lady Patriots captured the Class AAAA state title – the program’s first since 1999 – in March but now that Coach Ryan Young has been named the WVSSAC Coach of the Year for the 2023-24 year, we thought folks would like to read it again, or read it for the first time. … Congratulations to Coach Young!)
It’s a unique and potential predicament, but it’s also a challenge most coaches would gladly accept. With a roster littered with exceptional talent, how does a coach take those supremely skilled players and turn them into one exceptional team? The challenge is to fit those pieces into a beautiful, completed puzzle focused on a singular picture: Winning.
Wheeling Park High School girls’ basketball Head Coach Ryan Young has the fortune of dealing with this type of predicament, as his 2023-24 Patriots are filled with incredible talent up and down the lineup. Now heading into the February part of the season, the 10th-year head coach appears to have all the pieces in place to complete a puzzle that includes championship results.
“It’s a good problem to have to have that much talent, but there are some challenges. I think the one thing you have to do as a coach is make everyone understand how important they are to the team,” Young said. “I think everybody plays a role, and we just try to continuously relay to the kids what their role is and how their role is helping the team.
“We like to sit down with the kids periodically. Some of the top kids stat-wise, it’s easy to go through stats and talk about this is where your strengths are, this is where we need you to improve. Some kids who don’t play a lot, we just have the conversation of, this is what you need to do to play more, or this is how you are helping us even though you’re maybe not getting the minutes (others are getting).
“I think it’s just important to sit down occasionally and talk to them. Not just sit down every once in a while, but continuously communicate what the kids are doing well and where they need to improve. In the end, it’s all about helping the team win.”
Young’s Patriots return this weekend to the 5A championship game in the OVAC Girls Basketball Tournament, taking on Morgantown February 3 at Harrison Central at 2 p.m. in a rematch of last year’s final. Morgantown, the No. 1 seed who defeated Parkersburg South in one semifinal 61-48 earlier this week, defeated the Patriots last year in the championship game. Morgantown’s only loss during the 2023-24 season is to Wheeling Park.
The Patriots, the No. 3 seed, defeated second seed Steubenville 75-43 in the other semifinal to advance. In that game, Young received significant contributions from several players, again showing the deep and diverse talent on the roster. Alexis Bordas, last year’s W.Va. Player of the Year, scored 27 points with seven rebounds and four assists against Steubenville. Bordas was joined in double figures by Lala Woods with 18 points and six rebounds, Natalie Daugherty with 16 points and five assists, and Jillian Huffman with 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Seneca Heller led the team in assists, and Merritt Delk also had some key assists.
The stats jump at you from that game, especially the assist totals. Moving the ball to the open teammate involves all five players on the floor and presents many difficulties for the opposing defense. It also shows that talented players are willing to share the ball in one pursuit, winning.
“We constantly use the phrase, ‘share the basketball.’ We talk about it before every game. We always talk about team assists,” Young said.
“I think our kids understand for the most part what we want to try to do offensively. When we move the ball well, I think we’re almost impossible to defend. What we see when we’re doing it in practices and in games our kids see what kind of shots we get when we do do that. So, I think it helps that when we rep it in practice it carries over into games.”
Wishing Upon a Star
The starting lineup includes high-level, generational talent, and all five players have the ability to control a game. Additionally, the bench provides both experienced and youthful players who can maintain the Patriots’ lofty skill level when they enter the game. Although he normally only goes seven or eight deep in his player rotation, Young values every player on the roster for the specific skills they bring to the team.
The five Patriot starters are:
- Junior Alexis Bordas, 5-8 guard; 2022-23 WV Player of the Year; achieved 1,000 career points during her sophomore season; leads the team with 24 points per game; averages 6.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 2.4 steals per game.
- Junior Lala Woods, 5-6 guard; 2022-23 WV all-state team; achieved 1,000 career points earlier this year; second in scoring at 16.4 ppg; also averages five rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.6 steals per game.
- Senior Natalie Daugherty, 5-6 guard; four-year varsity letter winner; may reach 1,000 career points this season; averages 14.1 ppg; averages 3.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.8 steals per game.
- Senior Jillian Huffman, 5-11 forward; four-year varsity letter winner; averages 8.5 ppg, 6.2 rebounds, 1.1 assist,s and 1.3 steals.
- Sophomore Seneca Heller, 5-6 guard; averages 5.6 ppg, averages a team-leading 4.0 assists per game, and averages 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 steals.
If that isn’t enough, the first two players off the bench contribute significantly as well. Merritt Delk, a 5-11 senior, and Ryleigh Hicks, a 5-6 senior, give Young plenty of flexibility with lineups and depth when needed. Delk, a four-year letter winner, averages 3.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. Hicks and freshman Karringtyn Miller look to be the first players off the bench Saturday against Morgantown as Delk will miss the game because of a prior commitment.
“Everyone’s going to see Lex and Lala and Natalie score points, but what doesn’t always show up on stat sheets is just how certain kids, and I’ll just use Seneca Heller because I’ve always told her this, the best compliment I can give her is she makes everyone on the team better. And she does every little thing across the board as far as stats. None are maybe going to stick out, but as coaches, we know players like her, our team wouldn’t have the success that it has,” Young said.
“And I would say Merritt is very much the same way. Great energy kid off the bench who kind of does it all for us too, asked to guard multiple positions. Stuff like that you don’t see on stat sheets.
“Jillian Huffman has really stepped it up this year,” Young continued. “She’s had several double-doubles. We asked her to rebound the ball more, and she’s got to guard the most physical players. She’s stepped up and done that.
“You’ve got kids like Ryleigh Hicks whose minutes might be limited in games, but we just talked to her the other day about how much she helps us get ready for opposing teams by being a scout player. She never, ever complains. She goes hard 100 percent of the time.”
Winning the Big One
Young took over the Patriots program beginning with the 2014-15 season, replacing Dee Davis. He had served for four years as an assistant coach for Meredith Dailer, who preceded Davis as head coach at The Park. Including his record this season, Young has compiled a 179-59 overall record as Wheeling Park’s head coach. He has had plenty of good players and teams during his tenure, but this current edition of his Patriots stands out.
With Monday night’s victory, the Patriots currently stand at 15-3 overall and are ranked: No. 1 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches poll in West Virginia class 4A. The three losses came to: South Fayette at home on opening night, at Morgantown, and at Parkersburg.
Last year Wheeling Park played Morgantown five times, winning three. But Morgantown’s two wins were on the biggest stages, in the OVAC 5A championship game and the WV state 4A championship game.
“The teams we lost to the last two years, these Morgantown teams, they were more experienced. Where I think this year we can’t use that excuse. We’re just as if not more experienced than they are. So hopefully that will make a difference in the end,” Young said.
“Talent-wise, you could say we’re right there with Morgantown, maybe even more talented. Maybe it was the case the last couple of years. But they just had seniors that didn’t make mistakes. They were perfect puzzle pieces for what they were trying to do.
“And I think that we’re more of that kind of team this year. Hopefully, that makes a difference in the end.
“As far as where we want to be, I think every team can always see where they can improve and always want to be better in certain areas. I’m really happy with our kids’ effort, their focus, everything to this point. I don’t think they could have put any more into it what they did in the offseason. They’re just workhorses.
“It’s paying off right now. Now we’ve just got to perform in the bigger games. I think that’s the last hurdle that we have to get over. Morgantown got us last year in the OVACs, they got us in the state finals. We won the other three contests, but they didn’t mean as much as the two that we lost. So that’s our goal now, to get over that last hurdle.”
