Gallery by Tina Laney
New Richmond – The mountain for the Wyoming East boys basketball team was already high enough Friday night.
Welcoming sectional rival Bluefield to the War Zone, the Warriors knew they needed all hands on deck.
Unfortunately for the home team, all hands were not available, most importantly starting point guard Cole Lambert.
Although Wyoming East put up a valiant effort, midway through the third period the absence of Lambert finally became its Achilles heel.
Using their athleticism and intense defensive pressure, the Beavers exploded on a 25-0 run across the final two quarters to take a 68-41 win over the Warriors.
“He is our leader. He handles the ball for us. He is a senior guard that is strong, smart with the basketball and can almost single-handedly beat a press,” Wyoming East head coach Derek Brooks said about Lambert. “We knew he would have trouble tonight because they were going to send two (defenders) at him. But, with him in the game, we felt like other people could get open and beat the pressure.”
The absence of Lambert appeared to effect Wyoming East immediately when Bluefield jumped out to a 17-7 lead after one quarter.
The Warriors refused to fold the tents and came storming back.
Two long balls from Zach Hunt and triples from Bryson Huff and Braxton Morgan helped Wyoming East outscore the Beavers 21-14 in the second period to trail by just three the break.
A bucket from Hunt with 4:57 to play in the third quarter pulled the Warriors within two points before the scoring dried up and the pressure from the Beavers changed the game.
“We were in the game deep in the third quarter. It was 35-33 with Zach Hunt wide open,” Brooks said. “We missed him there and turned the ball over probably three straight times and we didn’t score for a while.”
A Euro-step through the lane by sophomore Jase Smith started the run which was followed by a steal and a slam from Kam’Ron Gore.
Sencere Fields cashed in on a turnover and R.J. Hairston scored on a stickback down the stretch to push the lead to 43-33 after three quarters.
Hairston was not shocked by the effort put forth by Wyoming East without Lambert on the floor.
“I wasn’t surprised by that,” Hairston said. “They are a great team and they have guys that will step up and play. They definitely stepped up. We just made the bigger movement. I just told (the team at halftime) we had to get a run and we couldn’t come out flat or we would get beat, simple as that.”
The biggest damage came over the first two-and-a half minutes of the final quarter.
East played the final quarter without Braydon Hoosier, who had stepped in and handled the ball admirably with Lambert out, turnovers mounted. The sophomore guard was not expected to play heavy varsity minutes and only had three quarters available after playing in the JV game earlier.
Bluefield put the game to bed by running off 17 straight points, capped by an alley-oop dunk from E.J. Washington to Hairston.
“We just got up in them and got good pressure, making the right passes,” Hairston said about the decisive run. “We did a good job of wearing them down and I compliment my guards. We are a big defensive team. If we can’t play defense, we can’t win. That is what we bond on and get runs on.”
While ball-handling was a struggle without Lambert, the senior standout was missed in other areas as well Friday.
“Defense and rebounding,” Brooks said. “He is probably averaging five-to-six rebounds per game too, along with almost 35 points a game right now and five or six assists. He kind of does it all for us. He is our floor general, he scores it for us and he is a communicator on defense. Not having him hurt us a lot.”
“He hadn’t been at practice the last two days, since the game Tuesday,” Brooks went on to say. “He was sick Wednesday morning and for him to not go, I knew he was very sick. This kid lives and breathes basketball. He tried to give it a go, but just couldn’t go.”
Brooks also had nothing but praise for the effort his team put forth under some extreme circumstances.
“You won’t play against a (more) athletic team, top to bottom, in the state (than Bluefield). They are all super quick and super athletic. That pressure is tough. I am super proud of (my) guys. We were only down 10 at the end of the third before we had to go even deeper in the bench to a kid that wasn’t expecting to get varsity time this early.”
“We typically only play seven and my sixth or seventh man is out with Covid too. He wasn’t even here tonight. I came here tonight almost expecting to only play five if we didn’t get in foul trouble.”
Bluefield is back in action Tuesday at Oak Hill. For Wyoming East its gets no easier with a road game at Chapmanville Saturday up next.
B: 17 14 12 25 – 68
WE: 7 21 5 8 – 41
Bluefield
E.J. Washington 10, Kam’Ron Gore 6, Sencere Fields 8, Glen Keene 3, Jase Smith 19, R.J. Hairston 19, Ricky Dunford 3.
Wyoming East
Zach Hunt 16, Bryson Huff 6, Braxton Morgan 7, Konnor Fox 10, Irm Bataa 2
