WVSSAC State Tournament Day 1

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Session I</h2>   Session One began with a shellacking of made baskets from the Westside Renegades versus the Region 2 qualifier Doddridge winning 83-53. Westside was a blistering 50% from beyond the arc with an incredible shooting display by [player_tooltip player_id='2691004' first='Kaiden' last='Vance'] who was 6-8 from deep and ended up with 26 points total on 9-15 shooting total. Vance made it clear he was the best athlete on the floor this morning. Westside had four other players in double figures including [player_tooltip player_id='1578733' first='Bryson' last='Blankenship'] who we got to see in person for the first time, and he didn't disappoint. Blankenship is a 6'6" forward with wing skills and handles to ball like a guard. [player_tooltip player_id='2691006' first='Colton' last='Lester'] had a notable performance with a double double including 15 points and 10 rebounds. Lester plays like a role player but seems to get a lot of production with great vision and court awareness. [player_tooltip player_id='2322645' first='Austin' last='Bishop'] turned in another solid performance as he often does with 14 points, 7 rebounds and six assists.   Doddridge was paced by Jacob Dehaven with 20 points while [player_tooltip player_id='2296622' first='Landon' last='Thomas'] added 13. Doddridge shooting woes were start to finish and ended up at 32% with a dreadful 6-26 from beyond the arc.   Morning session's second game wasn't quite as fast paced at the first one, but nonetheless exciting. Fairmont Senior's trio of guards kept the Polar Bears true in [player_tooltip player_id='2377003' first='Darrell' last='Claybrook'], Jules Butler and [player_tooltip player_id='2375557' first='Trea' last='Cumberledge']. Fairmont did just enough to finish the job in a game that featured very purposeful half court offense by both teams and came right down to the last second with Chapmanville missing and Fairmont able to pull out a quarterfinal win 47-46. The Claybrook and Cumberledge tandem ended the game both with 15 points to lead the Polar Bears with Butler adding 13. The story of the game though was undoubtedly the defensive effort by the Fairmont Senior squad which has been largely unsung this year. Chapmanville's [player_tooltip player_id='2734710' first='Keaton' last='Terry'] finished with 18 points and a whopping 16 rebounds while he beat on the boards and had the most prominent paint presence of either team. Other notable scorer for Chapmanville was [player_tooltip player_id='2376948' first='Benji' last='Adkins'] with 16 while handling the Polar Bear ball pressure all day.   The third and final game of the day was nothing less than a snoozer, but it could be argued to be expected. Wheeling Central's [player_tooltip player_id='2211906' first='Eli' last='Sancomb'] has many Division I suitors including George Washington University who were in the building for this double A matchup. Sancomb absolutely dominated posting 22 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, a statline which could've easily turned into a triple double had coach Mel Stephens not called off the dogs and Sancomb. [player_tooltip player_id='1851975' first='Max' last='Olejasz'] kept things cleaned up in the paint with 8 points and 12 rebounds making his paint presence known early and often. Another notable, if not the most notable performanc was by [player_tooltip player_id='2605810' first='Tyler' last='Dean'] who was on fire at every level shooting 7-8 from the field, 2-2 from three and 7-7 at the free throw line. An incredible performance by a player many have yet to hear of. Central takes on Westside in a semifinal matchup Thursday morning.   Ritchie's Rhett Johnson was the bright spot for Ritchie posting 15 points despite only shooting 33% but was 5-9 from three.   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">SESSION II</h2>   The nightcap began with a horrendous blowout of Williamstown over Buffalo led to all of the Yellowjacket starters being played limited minutes including [player_tooltip player_id='1578750' first='Jayden' last='Bryant'] who went off in the first half for 25 and finished with 27 shooting 10-17, 4-8 and 3-3 free throws before being pulled for reserve players. [player_tooltip player_id='1867669' first='Cruz' last='Isaly'] had solid performance as usual and popped in 14 on 6-11 shooting including 2-4 from three. Isaly was also tops in assists for the game while easily overcoming the Buffalo squads efforts. Williamstown will take on the winner of Tuesday's nightcap between Logan and Wyoming East.   The triple a sandwich game on Tuesday evening featured Elkins versus Bridgeport. It was evident from the tip that Bridgeport had just a bit too much talent as well as depth. [player_tooltip player_id='2410034' first='Phoenix' last='Sickles'] was the story here pumping in a game high 20 points while scoring in various ways. Lots of help from [player_tooltip player_id='1573156' first='Landon' last='Sanders'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2337756' first='Anderson' last='McDougal'] with 11 & 13 respectively, however the story once again was defense and we shouldn't ignore the fact the Indians held the hard nosed [player_tooltip player_id='2528455' first='Levi' last='Wanless'] to 8 points behind a 3-15 shooting performance that caused the beginning of the end for the Tigers with nobody finishing in double figures.   The Charleston Coliseum suddenly got packed with Logan versus Wyoming East on the schedule for the nightcap. Logan jumping out to a 12-9 lead after period one. [player_tooltip player_id='2375690' first='Ivan' last='Miller'] charted six of those first 12 with some midrange magic from corner if the foul line. But the story of the game was certainly freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2444025' first='Talen' last='Muscari'] from Wyoming East. Muscari made his presence felt early and often while being the smallest player on the floor the entire game. Muscari finished with 18 points on 7-13 shooting overall and seemed to be feeling it from anywhere. Muscari's counterpart and freshman sharpshooter from Logan, [player_tooltip player_id='2694392' first='Lucas' last='Lambert'] struggled shooting from the floor after absolutely lighting it up this entire season until his state tournament debut. [player_tooltip player_id='2208853' first='Matt' last='Hatfield'] managed 14 points for the Wildcats but still struggled from deep only shooting 1 for 8. Safe to say the Wyoming East defense played a big part in the shooting woes keeping tempo high and getting hands in shooters faces leaving nobody uncontested.   Wyoming East's 6'7" sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='2690991' first='Konnor' last='Fox'] had some serious struggles of his own in the paint shooting the basketball, but his chippy from about four feet proved to be the difference maker in this contest. Fox only managed 4 points in the game despite having a big height advantage but the rising sophomore post did make his presence felt grabbing twelve boards which was tops for the game. Another freshman of note was [player_tooltip player_id='2444028' first='Broc' last='Johnson'], a 6'4" freshman guard who certainly looks the part but had shooting struggles of his own, nonetheless the young guard is trending up and looks to be a favorable next level prospect. Wyoming East advances after their one point victory despite a foul being called with zeroes on the clock putting Logan's [player_tooltip player_id='2375690' first='Ivan' last='Miller'] to the line. Miller missed the first and being down two points officials called the game final. Wyoming East will play cross county rival Westside in the semi-final round.