LOST CREEK, W.Va. — South Harrison High School will introduce their third head coach in as many seasons with the announced hiring of Zak Bart to coach boys basketball.
Bart went 42-49 in four seasons at Liberty-Harrison. He inherited a team that won just one game in 2020-21 — ultimately winning six games, nine games and then 16 games through his first three seasons.
In arguably his biggest challenge, Bart led Liberty to an 11-13 record and within a game of a state tournament berth despite losing multiple players to transfer with the impending closure of Liberty High School at the end of this year.
“I’m thankful for the opportunity to continue coaching at South Harrison. We have a very bright future ahead of us and for the teams coming to the Hawk’s Nest, they are going to be taking some quiet bus rides home,” Bart told WKMZ Wednesday night.
A young South Harrison team that started all underclassmen and had no seniors finished the season 10-12, going 6-10 under interim head coach Scott Wallace.
Wallace told WKMZ he is looking forward to continuing to volunteer with the program and assist in any way possible.
The Hawks fell in their opening round matchup with eventual region winner Ritchie County in a hard fought 55-46 loss.
South Harrison has missed the state tournament in back-to-back seasons following first-ever back-to-back state tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023.
Story by Alex Wiederspiel