Mon County should be well represented at the 2026 state basketball tournament in Charleston

Feb. 11---- Copy Link — Facebook — LinkedIn — Share on X MORGANTOWN — At the beginning of December, two of the four state championship games in football included schools from Monongalia County as both Morgantown (Class AAAA) and Clay-Battelle (A) reached the final weekend of the season.

Along with that, University High also made a run to the semifinals of the postseason with an upset of No. 2 Huntington in the quarterfinals.

Fast-forward to February and basketball season, and the area teams have, so far, replicated the success on the gridiron.

The Morgantown, University, Clay-Battelle, and Trinity Christian boys basketball teams have combined for a record of 46 wins and 10 losses this season, with no team having more than four losses, and MHS standing as the only unbeaten team in AAAA.

The Mohigans hold wins over UHS (x2), Parkersburg South, Wheeling Park, and Shady Spring, and will have multiple upcoming games against top-five opponents with George Washington and Washington.

Two of the Hawks' losses this season have come to their crosstown rival, with the other two coming to Washington and Bridgeport. UHS sits ranked sixth in the Class AAAA coaches poll and will need to show it can beat the top teams before jumping them in the rankings.

"That's what I told our guys in the locker room a few weeks ago, " UHS head coach Joe Schmidle said on the Extra Medium Sports Podcast. "We haven't been able to get over the hump and beat one of those teams above us yet, and that's what it will take for us to move up."

The Hawks have shown they'll be one of the four favorites out of the North Region in Class AAAA, but will need to earn their keep.

Trinity Christian had yet to crack the top ten of the coaches poll this season despite 13 wins, but the Warriors' 59-49 victory over then-No. 4 Clay-Battelle last week should vault them into a spot in the rankings. They'll battle for an OVAC championship with a semifinal game at home against Frontier (Oh.) on Tuesday.

The Cee-Bees will look to bounce back this week with a pair of games against River (Oh.) at home and a road-contest against Oak Glen on Friday.

Despite the setback last week, the Cee-Bees continue to be one of the top teams in the class, having one of their worst shooting performances of the season against Trinity Christian.

Both the Warriors and the Cee-Bees will have to battle through an 11-team Region 1 bracket that includes top-ranked Parkersburg Catholic as well.

With all four teams being battle-tested come March, it won't be a shock to see multiple teams from Monongalia County heading to Charleston to compete for a state championship.