Indians Secure Spot in State Tournament with 56-23 Victory Against Hampshire; BHS Now 23-1
By Chris Johnson on March 13, 2025
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For the second time in as many postseason games, Bridgeport turned up the defensive pressure in the third quarter to pave the way for a victory.
This time it was 23-2 advantage against Hampshire in Thursday’s Class AAA Region II co-championship game that led to a 56-23 victory. The win also locked up the top seed in next week’s state tournament at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The Indians will face No. 8 Elkins at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday in the opening round of the Class AAA portion of the state tournament. They are taking a record of 23-1 with them to Charleston as well as a 20-game win streak.
“I looked up at the end of the third quarter and I told (assistant coaches) Grant (Burton) and Bo (Kessler) they only scored two points in that quarter,” BHS head coach Dave Marshall said. “You’ve heard me say that for years, I think how you start the third quarter sets the tone for the rest of the game.
“I thought that was more crucial tonight because hats off to Hampshire. They came out and they battled and they scrapped and they made everything hard early. I thought we were probably a little too jacked up early and that was evident with the nine turnovers in the first half.
“Our defense carried the day and that’s the way it has to be.”
In addition to the stingy defense, the Indians were also benefited from Jack Spatafore taking over the game offensively after halftime as he scored 10 of his game-high 17 in the pivotal third.
Up just six at 23-17, Spatafore scored his first bucket of the second half to extend the lead to eight. On the next possession he buried a 3-pointer. Next was an inside basket to give him 10 for the game.
Following a basket from Carter Zuliani, Spatafore hit another 3 and followed with a steal and layup and all of a sudden the Indians were up 20 at 37-17 and they never looked back.
“Jack acted like a senior leader,” Marshall said. “We’re blessed to have all those seniors. One night it’s going to be him, one night it’s going to be somebody else. I thought what he did tonight was game-changing. He is such a tough matchup. We have other big guys so a team can’t put a big guy on him. He can shoot from the perimeter, and he is stronger than most guards anybody else has.”
Another BHS guard, Gavin Williams, had an equally important first half when things weren’t going quite the way the Indians would have preferred.
Down 7-2, Williams entered the game and promptly hit a 3-pointer to make it 7-5. He broke a 9-all tie in the second quarter with a pull-up jumper and later hit his second 3 to give his team a little bit of breathing room at 20-12.
“If he wasn’t scoring the way he was it could have been a disaster in the first half,” Marshall said. He has that swagger and wants the ball in clutch situations. You don’t want a ball handler to go out there and not have confidence and he does and that’s why I love him.”
Williams finished with nine points to complement Spatafore’s 17. Anderson McDougal added eight points to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. Spatafore also had four assists and four rebounds.
Phoenix Sickles and Carter Zuliani each finished with six points and 10 rebounds.
Editor's Note: Top photo shows the Indians celebrating with their Class AAA Region II co-championship trophy and bottom photo features Spatafore surveying the court. Photos by Joe LaRocca.
