The Paul "Bear" Bryan quote, "Defense wins championships," was meant for the football field. This afternoon at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center, Bridgeport High School showed that it applies to basketball as well.
 
BHS's relentless defense and rebounding proved to be far too much for Nitro to handle in what turned into a 62-40 Class AAA state championship victory by the Indians. It was the first state title since 2001 and third in school history.
 
The Tribe finished the year 26-1, which is the most wins ever by the program and a season-ending 24-game winning streak. The only loss this season came to the same Wildcat squad almost three months to the day. NHS beat the Tribe 52-44 on Dec. 21 but had no answers for its Harrison County opponent today.
 
The reason? There was plenty to choose from with the aforementioned defense and rebounding leading the way. And the numbers back it up.
 
While Nitro shot better after an opening period that was disastrous, it still finished the game 16-of-43 from the field (37.2 percent) but was just 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) on 3-point field goals.
 
The killer for a Nitro team that featured one of the few front lines bigger than Bridgeport was on the boards. The Indians won the battle off the glass 39-15. In fact, Bridgeport had more offensive rebounds, 16, than its foe, who managed to get just five.
 
"I didn't realize it was that much of a gap," said BHS Coach Dave Marshall when told of the numbers. "They're big and there's not been a lot of teams at our level that matches our size, and they do and then some. I was really proud of our guys for that."
 
The dominance of the boards and the difference it made in the game was not lost on Nitro Coach Austin Lowe.
 
"Hats off to Coach Marshall and Bridgeport. They came out and took it to us. There were a little more physical than we were expecting," he said. "If you would have told me we would get outrebounded by 20 I would have told you, you were crazy. They had more offensive rebounds than we had total rebounds."
 
The physical nature of the game played directly into the hands of 6'6, 240-pound senior center Carter Zuliani. He finished with team-high totals of 13 points and 10 rebounds, along with a stitches-requiring busted chin, in a contest where the officials let both teams play physically.
 
"He's a mountain of a man and he's such a great athlete," said Marshall. "He took a good one diving on the floor there and cut him up and he was right back in it. He's a really tough kid."


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