Gallery by Heather Belcher
The semifinal clash Thursdsay in the opening round of the Pepsi Division of The Battle for the Armory was far from a masterpiece.
Wyoming East head boys basketball coach Derek Brooks will take the win just the same.
Battling through a defensive grinder against two-time defending Class A state champion James Monroe, the Warriors used a late three-point play from Bryson Huff to slip past the Mavericks 35-34.
With the win, Wyoming East advances to the Pepsi Division Championship game against Charleston Catholic Friday at 4 p.m.
“It was ugly, but we will take a win no matter how we get it,” Brooks said. “I am frustrated with the way we played, of course. I thought James Monroe was more physical than us. We couldn’t run offense because guys were catching it 25-30 feet from the basket. We have to be stronger than that.”
“Shots weren’t falling and we struggled from the field,” Brooks went on to say. “All credit to them because they played very good physical defense. We got stops when we had to have them, however, and we got buckets when we had to have them.”
The biggest bucket of the night came from Bryson Huff with 2:35 to play when a quick steal ended in an old-school three-point play for a 35-33 advantage.
“We had just got into the press right there. We hadn’t pressed all night because we didn’t have many opportunities to press,” Brooks said. “The steal right there was huge and it won the game for us.”
James Monroe entered the final period holding a 31-27 lead which it had held since 3:42 to play in the opening quarter.
Turnovers in the final eight minutes and five missed free throws proved to be the undoing for the boys from Monroe County.
“The biggest thing in the fourth quarter was we didn’t take care of the ball. Part of it is we are young in places. Part of it is we are inexperienced in places,” James Monroe head coach Matt Sauvage said. “A lot of it has to do with making wrong decisions because we are trying to push a little bit with it being the fourth quarter and you think you have to go.”
The Mavericks could not find the mark over the first five minutes of the quarter, giving East a chance to regain the lead.
A bucket from Cole Lambert and a huge 3-ball from Zach Hunt gave the Warriors a 32-31 lead with 4:09 to play. It was the first lead for Wyoming East since 5:25 to play in the opening quarter.
“Zach has been steady all year and has been averaging around 15 points a game,” Brooks said. “He had 12 points tonight and shot 50 percent from the field. He was also 3-for-5 from the 3-point line.”
The Mavericks took its final lead on a jumper from Ryan Mann a minute later, but Mann fouled out on Huff’s score and James Monroe did not convert another bucket the rest of the way.
“Ryan is long and a great defender. Ryan is figuring out the offensive side and he had some good plays offensively tonight,” Sauvage said. “He is a great defender and rebounder, so it did hurt when he went out.”
A free throw with 1:18 to play was the final score for James Monroe which could not convert on an offensive set down the stretch.
“We knew coming into this season that it was going to be different on the offensive side. The biggest thing on the offensive side is not lack of effort, it is lack of execution.,” Sauvage said. “I am a little frustrated with execution, but that is fixable. We were running sets, but the timing was off. We were going to the right spots, but at the wrong time. If you only give up that many point, you should win ball games. The boys know that and we don’t have to harp on it.”
James Monroe will now play Princeton in the consolation game Friday at 2 p.m.
