Area Rankings: Who is the best player in northern W.Va.?
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PARKERSBURG – Until the two past March’s, when Cameron competed for and then won the Class A state title and Morgantown faced off against Huntington for the Class AAAA title, the Northern part of W.Va. had been in a bit…
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Continue ReadingPARKERSBURG – Until the two past March’s, when Cameron competed for and then won the Class A state title and Morgantown faced off against Huntington for the Class AAAA title, the Northern part of W.Va. had been in a bit of a slump in terms of competing for a girls’ state championship.
University and Buckhannon-Upshur both fell to Parkersburg High in the back-to-back years of 2018 and 2019, but then two years went by before the Dragons and Mohigans took swings at the championship.
Regardless of the situation, it doesn’t change the fact that the Northern Panhandle still puts out great players who go on to play in college. B-U’s Hannah McClung and Lauren Bennett, Wheeling Park’s Shanley Woods, Bella Abernathy and Lindsey Garrison, alongside University’s Ashten Boggs are just a number of players who continued their academic athletic careers at the next level. Looking at what the Northern Panhandle has now paints a similar story, there are several girls who will make big time college athletes in the not-too-distant future.
Here are the top 15 players in Northern W.Va.:
15-11: Hannah Stemple Hannah Stemple 5'5" | SG University | 2025 State WV , University; Kenzie Clutter Kenzie Clutter 5'5" | PG Cameron | 2024 State WV , Cameron; Avery Childers Avery Childers 5'10" | PF Robert C. Byrd | 2023 State WV , Robert C. Byrd; Kaitlin Blake, John Marshall; Natalie Daugherty Natalie Daugherty 5'8" | SF Wheeling Park | 2024 State WV , Wheeling Park
10-6: Sadaya Pryor Jones Sadaya Pryor Jones 5'9" | SF Morgantown | 2025 State WV , Morgantown; Kenly Rogers Kenly Rogers 5'7" | CG East Fairmont | 2024 State WV , East Fairmont; Olivia Toland Olivia Toland 5'9" | CG North Marion | 2023 State WV , North Marion; Gabby Reep, Bridgeport; Lala Woods, Wheeling Park
5 Sofia Wassick Sofia Wassick 5'7" | PG Morgantown | 2024 State WV , Morgantown, PG, Jr., 5-8: Coming in at No. 5, we have Morgantown point guard Sofia Wassick Sofia Wassick 5'7" | PG Morgantown | 2024 State WV (pictured above). Tasked with setting up Morgantown’s offense and running the plays that make the Mohigans successful, Wassick runs her tasks to perfection. Better even. Give her a play and she will find the best pass or setup possible. If it needs to go to the No. 4 player on this list, so be it. Should Sadaya Pryor be open well than well than she will get the ball. But that’s only grazing the surface of Wassick’s value. She’s also known to score in crunch time and take control at the end of games. Just last year against Wheeling Park in the sectional final, she scored the final points of the game for the Mohigans in helping advance them to the sectional final. How can you argue with that type of production? You can’t. Or at the very least, you shouldn’t. Given the Mohigans chase for a state championship this fall, her clutch gene may come in handy as the Patriots (Park or GW) won’t be pushovers once Charleston rolls around. If the Mohigans find themselves in a bind, they can feel comfortable knowing their floor commander can come to the rescue.
4 Lily Jordan Lily Jordan 6'0" | PF Morgantown | 2024 State WV , Morgantown, W, Jr., 6-0: Morgantown chases a state championship when Class AAAA returns to the prep court.
There’s no escaping the Mohigans’ talent and high-powered defense.
And among those good fortunes of new head coach Doug Goodwin and his staff includes the return of Lily Jordan Lily Jordan 6'0" | PF Morgantown | 2024 State WV . Providing a 6-foot-1 wing presence with post capabilities, she brings multiple weapons to multiple levels on the court. Force her to use them and she does so without hesitation. She dips into her bag of tricks, pulls something out, then uses her moves.
Challenge her posting up and she spins to the basketball for a layup and possibly an and-one. Faceguard her and you risk losing that battle as she explodes off a screen and gets to the rim, anyway. Move her out beyond the foul line extended and she’ll drain a jumper in your face. Just take a look at how she handled herself this past year coming off the bench for head coach Jason White. There was no drop-off or pouting or anything like that. There was just basketball. She made plays, improved her defense, and flashed an offensive game likely only getting better in the offseason. That and more is what teams have to look forward to when everyone returns to the court in pursuit of the crown currently belonging to Huntington.
3 Ashlynn Van Tassell, Cameron, C, So., 6-3: Van Tassell keeps adding to her game.
All the time.
Perhaps, its more ballhandling skills here. Or a bunny jumper or 10 ft pop shot there, but she’s always getting better. Sure, it sounds strange. The young lady recently broke Alexis Hornbuckle’s state tournament rebounding record alongside the Class A record set just one hour earlier during the state tournament this year, so what does she have to worry about getting better for? But it’s true. Look at her shot accuracy, her strength, or ability to back down some in the lane and she’s always working on new tricks. And that’s why she comes in at No. 3 on this list. Already in position of a 6-4 frame, she’s becoming more of a handful to stop year after year. Many teams in Class A and even on the AAU circuit can’t handle her because she has such a wide bag of tricks to select from. And when someone has that many options up their sleeve, well, it’s just now a good time for opposing offenses or defenses.
2 Haylen Cook Haylen Cook 5'9" | PG Linsly | 2025 State WV , Linsly, G, So., 5-8: A competitive attitude breeds success.
There’s no better example in W.Va. than Haylen Cook Haylen Cook 5'9" | PG Linsly | 2025 State WV .
Hidden away from much of the Mountain State as Linsly doesn’t always receive a huge amount of exposure, Cook impresses each time on the hardwood. Put her in any scenario and she will succeed. Tell her the game is all but lost and she doesn’t care.
There’s nothing anyone can do or say to take down her spirit. Attacking her and daring her to do something spectacular ends up having the opposite effect. Every single time. Take her summer with the Thunder for example. As she’s facing some of the top kids in the country, they only helped bring out the highest level of her play. Several times in the biggest games of the summer she took over and dominated on one of the most talented teams in the Thunder organization, a group that until very recently would have featured the top 3 players in Northern W.Va. If that isn’t impressive, then I don’t know what is.
Repeatedly perking up and handling the toughest situations with grace and determination really is the perfect approach. No questions about it. If you question her then that is your problem. Just don’t be surprised if she hears none of it, she’s going to keep playing and attacking her way with a competitive attitude and that’s why she’s No. 2 on this list.
1 Alexis Bordas Alexis Bordas 5'8" | SG Wheeling Park | 2025 State WV , Wheeling Park, SG, So., 5-8: Bordas sure knows how to shoot the basketball. Just look at any tape, I’ll wait. See. You saw it for yourself. She squares up, releases and follows through just like everyone is taught to do. Picture perfect, even. And that’s why she’s coming in as the No. 1 player on this list. Thanks to that range and ability to heat up at any time, no game is safe. Far from it. One shot is all it takes and then the opposition is in trouble. The lead keeps widening or the comeback keeps inching closer and closer. No matter what time of the game, the scenario likely won’t be good for the opposition. As the icing on the cake, she ended up receiving a crash course in shooting against some of the best players on the Under Armour circuit – where she found more success. Maybe she wasn’t dropping 50 points per game, but she hit enough shots to know she can do it against the best of the best. Watch out for the incoming season, Wheeling Park opponents. Surely, Bordas will be on the mark.