WVSSAC State Tournament Day 3

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Day three kicked off single A competition with a gritty and talented East Hardy squad led by [player_tooltip player_id='2382663' first='Jordan' last='Teets']. Teets who had a tremendous showing here last year started off today with 4-5 shooting from three and finishing with 14 points total. Meanwhile teammate Evan Hamilton picked up the slack with an efficient 20 points that included 4-9 from deep. 6'6" sophomore center [player_tooltip player_id='2470012' first='Gideon' last='Good'], who many were anxious to see, struggled from the field but provided a huge boost on both ends with grabbing 12 rebounds and blocking an amazing 11 shots which tied the event record. East Hardy controlled the entire game behind Teets and Hamilton, while the Cee Bees just couldn't get going offensively leaving them with scoring only 34 points shooting just under 30%, much in part due to Good's presence. Cee Bees lone double figure scorer was 6'7" senior center [player_tooltip player_id='1463045' first='Preston' last='Luzader'] was held to an uncharacteristic 11 points and just 8 rebounds. A remarkable defensive effort by East Hardy considering Luzader averaging 24/14 coming into the morning contest. Final score 51-34 East Hardy.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Game two was between two AA powers in Westside, who knocked off Saturday hopeful Logan and Division I phenom [player_tooltip player_id='2211906' first='Eli' last='Sancomb'] led Wheeling Central. Central's early scoring was split between Sancomb and the very active [player_tooltip player_id='1851975' first='Max' last='Olejasz'] who had 6 points and 3 rebounds in the first five minutes. Maroon Knights jumped out to an early 16-6 lead and that seemed to light a fire under Westside who went a 7-0 run to end the first stanza. [player_tooltip player_id='2322645' first='Austin' last='Bishop'] hit a three and Braydon Waldren got consecutive buckets to pull the Renegades back to 16-13. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Second quarter was kicked off by an amazing four point play by [player_tooltip player_id='2421837' first='Luke' last='Sancomb'] from the right wing and converted the and 1. Central ended the quarter with an 8 point run by Olejasz and Sancomb but also included [player_tooltip player_id='2208831' first='Troy' last='Anthony']'s 6th and 7th point. The pace which seemed to accommodate both squads favored Central in the end with [player_tooltip player_id='2211906' first='Eli' last='Sancomb'] and [player_tooltip player_id='1851975' first='Max' last='Olejasz'] being huge problems for Westside. We went into halftime with no Westside players in double figures and [player_tooltip player_id='2816010' first='Bradyn' last='Waldron'] leading the Renegades with an efficient 9 points on 4-5 first half shooting. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second half kicked off with a quick five point burst by Westside's Waldron and Vance, but the third quarter still belonged to Sancomb who seemed to dominate every aspect of the game which included two triples and three points from free throws. The Maroon Knights rolled that momentum right into the fourth quarter that saw Westside only muster two buckets and then Olejasz and Sancomb took over for the remainder of the game until time expired and were top two scorers in the fame with 20 and 22 respectively. Central awaits the winner of Williamstown and Wyoming East who both were impressive in quarterfinal victories. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Game three was a single A rematch from January that Tucker won handily. However, Magnolia has since built chemistry and depth that wasn't present two months ago with [player_tooltip player_id='2306117' first='Bo' last='Tallman'] and freshman [player_tooltip player_id='2395977' first='Noah' last='Hood']. Another notable player is the senior guard [player_tooltip player_id='2776495' first='Dubale' last='Greathouse'] who's became an impressive defender. While Tucker took awhile to heat up, they ended the first half on a 17-2 run led by a couple [player_tooltip player_id='2382654' first='Garrett' last='Wilfong'] buckets followed by two free throws (ended the half with 8 points, 7 rebounds), a [player_tooltip player_id='2306373' first='Mikey' last='Mitchell'] three pushed the Mountain Lions ahead a bit more, then [player_tooltip player_id='2434921' first='Cayden' last='Arnold'] got in the groove with a couple buckets followed by an [player_tooltip player_id='2413869' first='Ethan' last='Cummings'] three and a breakaway layup by [player_tooltip player_id='1412065' first='Trevan' last='Bonner']. Greathouse paced the Blue Eagles with a very efficient 10 points and an impressive 4 steals while [player_tooltip player_id='2303408' first='Kingston' last='Christen'] finished the half with 7. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Second half action started briskly with Greathouse and Christen both scoring for Magnolia, however, [player_tooltip player_id='2306373' first='Mikey' last='Mitchell'] answered them both times with buckets of his own. Then the Mountain Lions went on a run with a Bonner bucket, Lambert for two then a Bonner three point play via and 1 that pushed the score to 45-29. Christen and Bonner traded a couple more buckets with a [player_tooltip player_id='2395977' first='Noah' last='Hood'] three sandwiched in between to end the quarter 48-34 in favor of Tucker. The final stanza started with a 5-0 run by Magnolia to get the deficit under 10 but it was shortlived when [player_tooltip player_id='2822057' first='Sam' last='Marks'] nailed a three from deep. The teams traded a couple buckets including another Hood 3 ball, before [player_tooltip player_id='2382654' first='Garrett' last='Wilfong'] went down with a foot injury and Alex Lambert stepped in to make a free throw for him. Tucker then sandwiched a Marks three with two made free throws. From there the 59-47 score held true and that's where we ended the morning session and Tucker advancing to the semifinal. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">SESSION II</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Single A defending champion Tug Valley set the pace early with a 6-0 run and then trading a couple buckets with Montcalm's Tristen Cline and Donovan Reed. Then reset the scoring at 6-6, Tug took off yet again on a 7-0 run started by an old fashioned three point play by [player_tooltip player_id='2382659' first='Ashton' last='Davis']. Now with the score 13-6 both teams trade buckets including [player_tooltip player_id='2776262' first='Ethan' last='Ferrell'] scoring his first bucket, to end the quarter 17-10.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Second quarter started with a couple traded buckets followed by a ten point run by Tug. Six of those ten were by [player_tooltip player_id='1851879' first='Braydun' last='Ferris'] while [player_tooltip player_id='2822627' first='Bryson' last='Elia'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2776262' first='Ethan' last='Ferrell'] had the rest. A Tyler Hagerman two and Ferris three ended the half with Tug leading 35-7. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>To start the second half Tug Valley went on a 13-0 run to push the lead by 28 and basically set the tone from there. Montcalm did get a couple scores in a couple free throws by Tristen Cline and a two point bucket by Donovan Reed. Tug maintained control and finished with a Ferrell two to end the quarter 53-21. The fourth quarter had much of the same but [player_tooltip player_id='2390881' first='Carson' last='Newsome'] did get into the scoring column, but Tug had control since quarter one and closed it out 67-36. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The sandwich game, middle game between two single A's was top seeded Williamstown taking on the three seeded Wyoming East. East has size, talent and lots of ability but Williamstown proved to be a bit too much. Wyoming East kept pace with the up and down of Williamstown and out of the gate the scoring was opened by a [player_tooltip player_id='2690991' first='Konnor' last='Fox'] dunk to get an early 2-0 lead, Fox also had a layup shortly thereafter to give him 4 of his 12 total. On the Williamstown side, [player_tooltip player_id='1578750' first='Jayden' last='Bryant'] was the spark to start their scoring putting up 7 points with two jumpers and one behind the arc. A good scoring pace continued into the second quarter for both teams with WE's [player_tooltip player_id='2444028' first='Broc' last='Johnson'] tallying his sixth point by the beginning of quarter two. Fox also added four of his own and [player_tooltip player_id='2444025' first='Talen' last='Muscari'] got himself warmed up getting his first two. Williamstown only managed eight points in the quarter and trailed by two at half. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second proved to be a bit too tough for the young squad from Wyoming East while Williamstown led by their senior trio of [player_tooltip player_id='1867669' first='Cruz' last='Isaly'] (7 points) [player_tooltip player_id='1578760' first='Parker' last='Schramm'] (20 points) and [player_tooltip player_id='1578750' first='Jayden' last='Bryant'] (18 points) shot the ball just a bit better from beyond the arc which is the only stat that had considerable advantage for Williamstown. Wyoming East's [player_tooltip player_id='2690991' first='Konnor' last='Fox'] put together an impressive game with 12 points and did enough to create some recruiting scuttlebut amongst college coaches. In the end, the Williamstown crew put together a couple scoring streaks that proved to be too much to overcome and won decidedly by 10. They'll face Wheeling Central Saturday in the AA final. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Thursday's nightcap featured Greater Beckley Christian versus the young guns of Huntington St Joseph. GBC scored early and often but St Joe hung around with [player_tooltip player_id='2715345' first='Micaiah' last='Ehirim'] staying active and presenting a defensive challenge for GBC. Ehirim scored 7 in the opening stanza and kept it close and shown great improvement in his game since we last saw him in December. The scoring trio of 6'8" center [player_tooltip player_id='2241522' first='Drew' last='Fitzwater'], [player_tooltip player_id='2425396' first='Jovante' last='Spencer'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2554070' first='Keegan' last='Davidson'] closed out the quarter with 14 points combined. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A great back and forth with up and down play set the tone in the second seeing some new names appear in the scoring column including [player_tooltip player_id='2390886' first='Isaiah' last='Sanders'] and [player_tooltip player_id='2531107' first='Noah' last='Keaton'] finally getting on the board although it was countered by junior [player_tooltip player_id='2390925' first='Isaiah' last='Kincaid'] who got six throughout the second. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The second half saw no large scoring runs by either team while Sanders and Fitzwater continued to dominate the scoring ending their nights at 20 and 22 points respectively. Should be noted Fitzwater grabbed 14 huge rebounds as he dominated play in the paint aiding GBC to pull away and close this game out at 60-52. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->