Gallery by Heather Belcher
Charleston – No. 3 Ripley’s comeback effort ultimately fell short Thursday morning as No. 6 Elkins used a late third-quarter burst to build distance and bounce the Vikings 60-49 in the Class AAA quarterfinals in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
With the win Elkins advances to Friday’s Class AAA semifinal round where it will face the winner of Fairmont Senior-North Marion at 9 p.m.
Trailing by 12 points at the half, Ripley tied Elkins at 34 in the final minute of the third quarter but a pair of 3s to close the frame and a three-point play to open the fourth helped the Tigers reestablish control of the contest.
The stretch was indicative how they played, canning 11 of their 24 3-point attempts in the win.
Malachi Watson led the charge for Elkins with 24 points on 10 of 16 shooting, going 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. While Cory Harper netted 14 with four 3s as well.
Luke Johnson led Ripley with 17 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
