Sizing up Class AAAA’s Contenders

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>CHARLESTON - Parkersburg High conquered a talented Class AAAA field to claim the program's ninth state championship at the end of the 2025-26 season. PHS outscored crosstown rival Parkersburg South, 21-12, in the fourth quarter to claim victory over the Patriots in the state championship game. However, PHS said goodbye to seven seniors upon the victory. New head coach Amy Way, along with returning starters [player_tooltip player_id='722020' first='Frances' last='Guice'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1261654' first='Faithlyn' last='Butcher'] will have their work cut out for them to return to the final game of the season. Here are a look at the teams ahead of the Big Reds as we head into the 2026-27 season:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>TEAMS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>PARKERSBURG SOUTH</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final 2025-26 record: 20-6/Class AAAA State Runner-up</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Parkersburg South Patriots made an unexpected run to the Class AAAA state final akin to the 2022 Boston Celtics, who lost in the NBA Finals to a veteran Golden State Warriors team. Much like those Celtics, the Patriots fell to a Parkersburg High Big Reds squad featuring seven seniors, 59-53. Hopefully, unlike the Celtics, who needed another two years before they returned to the final games of the year, the Patriots won't suffer the growing pains of the 2023 and 2024 Joe Mazzulla-led group. They have a strong core back with all-state selections in sophomores [player_tooltip player_id='1812335' first='Lindsey' last='Logston'], [player_tooltip player_id='1899326' first='Quinn' last='Bolyard'], and [player_tooltip player_id='1875857' first='Grace' last='Dotson'], alongside stalwart zone breaker and mid-range master Kenna Mace. Add in more veteran leadership and the arrival of another talented bunch of freshman, and South head coach Ed Davis' team could be back in the finals before one could say cheese.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>GEORGE WASHINGTON</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final 2025-26 record: 25-2/Class AAAA State Semifinalist</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The George Washington Patriots are deep. Quite deep. LaMaster used as many as 12 girls in fall ball, and he believes the Patriots can go 10 deep in many regular season games. What does this mean for the rest of the Mountain State Athletic Conference and AAAA? Get ready to run. A lot. With NCAA Division I commit Jeriyah Prior and D1 talent [player_tooltip player_id='721985' first='Rayana' last='Breckenridge'] in their senior season, the two main pieces to the engine are in place to get up and down the floor. With JP, RB, [player_tooltip player_id='841610' first='Mariah' last='Johnson'], Ady Gumm, Charleston Catholic transfer [player_tooltip player_id='728698' first='Ali' last='Wilcox'] and a slew of freshmen and sophomore shooters, the Patriots are in a good place to overwhelm many teams. The biggest question for GW? How does LaMaster unlock the elite version of his team in a state semifinal and final? It isn't an outlandish statement to say the Patriots could face a path of least resistance on their way to one of four semifinal spots. Talent is talent, and the Patriots have an overabundance of it. But, nine times LaMaster has reached the penultimate contest of the season, and nine times his Patriots and he have been sent back to The Hill without the state's ultimate prize.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>MORGANTOWN </em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final 2025-26 record: 16-8/Class AAAA State Semifinalist</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Morgantown Mohigans' head coach John Fowkes and company added perhaps the most significant upgrade a team can possibly add in NCAA Division 1 West Virginia University commit [player_tooltip player_id='722078' first='Kayli' last='Kellogg'], who is back and fully healed after an ACL injury forced her to miss her junior season. Kellogg is among my favorites for the Mary Ostrowski Award, awarded to the best player in the state at year's end. Her court vision, defense, shooting ability and ability to create for her teammates is the kind of addition any team would be thankful to add to its roster. I am not kidding. The Mohigans were reliably able to stretch the floor one year ago without Kellogg, and with her back, there could be some five out sets and small ball akin to those 2022 Golden State Warriors. Everyone on the team can shoot, and Kellogg's presence alone creates layers upon layers of possibilities. There are very few teams in AAAA that will want to get into a shootout with this Mohigan group.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>MARTINSBURG</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final 2025-26 record: 19-3/Class AAAA State Quarterfinalist</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Martinsburg Bulldogs are going to be in the mix. Deep in the mix. Much of the team that battled eventual AAAA state runner-up Parkersburg South returns for another shot at the elusive state title. Don't sleep on this Martinsburg team as a lower seed, either. The Bulldogs have a history of tough play inside Charleston's Vandalia Health Center. Do I expect this Bulldog team to be among the bottom two seeds at the state tournament? No. With players like [player_tooltip player_id='1261393' first='Zianna' last='Lomax'], [player_tooltip player_id='1319454' first='Claire' last='Rivas'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1261400' first='Aaliyah' last='Wymer'] back, plus explosive freshman [player_tooltip player_id='1849259' first='Ava' last='McDowell'] ready to make some noise, the Bulldogs should be up in the four or five seed range. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><em>WASHINGTON</em></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final 2025-26 record: 14-9/Class AAAA State Quarterfinalist</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washington and head coach Rashaan Edwards have advanced to the state tournament in each of his first four years at the helm. I see no reason why the Patriots fail to make it five seasons in a row. Hedgesville and Musselman are all building state tournament worthy teams, but Martinsburg and Washington have state tournament worthy teams, now. With the return of Class AAAA All-State First Team player [player_tooltip player_id='1828957' first='Natalia' last='Holmes'], alongside starters [player_tooltip player_id='1936839' first='Sheridan' last='Itobi'], [player_tooltip player_id='841684' first='Timia' last='Perry'], [player_tooltip player_id='1827014' first='Chyler' last='Shade'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1852590' first='Brooke' last='Holiskey'], the Patriots are going to be a hard out for all but the most prepared teams in the Eastern Panhandle and around the state. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>OTHER TEAMS TO WATCH</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Beyond the primary contenders, Musselman, Woodrow Wilson, and Oak Hill have a chance to make noise in the classification. Woodrow Wilson and Oak Hill will have to go through PHS, South or GW to advance to Charleston, but both schools have veteran teams, who know how to play defense. Each welcomes back an all-state selection, the Red Devils' Natalie Craddock was named honorable mention, while the Flying Eagles' [player_tooltip player_id='728258' first='Zoey' last='Williams'] was named to the second team. Musselman welcomes in talented freshmen [player_tooltip player_id='1939438' first='Ava' last='Dunham'] and Jordyn Rimer to an experienced team. The Lady Applemen (Apple ladies?) will face stiff competition in the Eastern Panhandle Athletic Conference. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>State Tournament Predictions</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Seeding</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>1 George Washington</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>2 Morgantown</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>3 Parkersburg South</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>4 Washington </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>5 Martinsburg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>6 University</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>7 Parkersburg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>8 Oak Hill </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Quarterfinal</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>GW over Oak Hill</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Morgantown over Parkersburg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Parkersburg South over University</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washington over Martinsburg</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Semifinal</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Washington over GW</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Parkersburg South over Morgantown</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Final</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Parkersburg South over Washington </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->