Well, once one has cracked the wrong side of 50 is it all downhill or uphill after that?

Probably depends on who one might ask.

It’s been a crazy winter and the clock is evidently changing soon, but the hardwood action is heating up.

While I really thought the Williamstown girls might cut the nets down in Pleasants County, I wasn’t sure what to expect Wednesday evening n Ellenboro for the rubber match between the counties of Doddridge and Ritchie.

Lo and behold, though, the Rebels came through after the Bulldogs landed the first right and will be dancing in Charleston for the first time since March of 2017.

Although the ‘Jacket girls of head man Danny Bunch, who ended the regular season ranked third in the final Associated Press poll, bowed out, the Little Kanawha Conference will be well represented.

Wheeling Central has been pegged as the Class AA team to beat Williamstown, which fell 46-42 in last year’s title tilt to Wyoming East, is out of the picture, but Fred King’s second-ranked Blue Devils will try and advance to the state semifinals on Tuesday afternoon if they can dispatch Dave McCullough’s seventh-seeded Rebels.

St. Marys definitely has a lot of work in front of it if the Blue Devils want to bring home a state crown.

SMHS, which defeated Gilmer County head coach Amy Chapman’s Titans 37-34 last month inside Glenville State University’s Waco Center for the LKC crown, definitely won’t be overlooking the Rebels. The Titans are favored to cut down the nets as seniors Allie Ellyson, Malory Casteel, Layla Smith and Summer Bourn hope to see their careers end with a victory in their final game.

The current group of Gilmer County seniors came up short in the state championship to Cameron, 53-30, as freshmen and then 50-43 last year. Back in 2023, the Titans were bounced in the state quarterfinals by Doddridge County.

As likely as the double-A final of the Maroon Knights and the Blue Devils, who feature seniors Addie Davis, Callie Powell and Linsie Asher, might be that’s why they play the game.

Thankfully, there’s no shot clock in the Mountain State, but few teams are as disciplined as say Kelly Church’s 2012 Hedgesville squad, which outlasted George Washington and Rick Greene’s Patriots, 33-32, to capture the Class AAA title.

Hard to believe the final weekend of the wrestling season is upon us, but the state semifinals are slated for tonight inside Huntington’s Marshall Health Network Arena.

Granted, the University mat program of head coach Ken Maisel is going after a Class AAA repeat, but Parkersburg High head coach Matt Littleton’s Big Reds are in the mix.

It’s also great to see the PHS girls of Chris Murray in the quad-A state tournament.

There are plenty of reasons if one is a hoops fan to head to the capitol city this week and soon we’ll know about the status of our area boys teams.

Suffice it to say, I got my first senior citizens discount recently.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com