Gallery by Heather BelcherĀ
While the final seconds ticked off the clock, the chants of “this is our house” from the Wyoming East student section rang throughout the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Already owning wins over the likes of Beckley and Charleston Catholic inside the famed Armory, the Warriors added another signature win to their resume’ Saturday night.
Jumping out to a 13-0 lead and never trailing in the contest, East rolled over county rival Westside like a runaway coal truck, 66-39.
“That is what we wanted coming in. We wanted that defensive effort that we showed tonight,” Wyoming East head coach Derek Brooks said. “We preached that all week, all day and all year. Defense, defense, defense. That is what really gets us into our offense and it showed tonight.”
Westside snapped the opening run with a pair of free throws by Colton Lester with 1:50 to play in the first quarter, but the tone for the night had already been set by the Warriors.
Trailing 18-5 after the first eight minutes, things quickly went from bad to worse for the Renegades.
“This is a rivalry game that means a lot to a lot of people. The whole county gets tuned into the game. Most of our kids that are playing are in 10th grade. They have never been a part of this,” Westside head coach Thomas Evans said. “My perspective is that the moment, the stage and the atmosphere were a little too big for them. Maybe if it had been in a gym, it might have been a little different.”
Wyoming East played Saturday without starter Jacob Howard and key reserve Dacoda Cooper due to injury and illness respectively.
Next man up was sophomore Zach Hunt who scored eight points in the first half and 11 for the game. Hunt ignited an 8-0 run with a 3-ball to open the second quarter for a 26-5 lead.
The Warriors held a 36-11 halftime lead with 20 of the points coming from senior Garrett Mitchell.
After tying the single-game scoring record earlier in the week with 39 points against Liberty, Mitchell was on pace for another huge night before going down with an ankle injury just before halftime.
Mitchell did not return in the second half.
“I hated to see him go down like that because he was on fire their in the first half,” Brooks said about his senior star. “He can fill it up and I thought it was going to be another night for him to do that.”
“My teammates got me the ball and that is really what it was,” Mitchell said about his hot start. “We came out with a lot of energy, played our game and we played defense hard.”
With Mitchell on the shelf, it was Braxton Morgan who stepped in and scored seven points in the third period to help East increase the lead to 32 points with one quarter left to play.
Brooks was extremely pleased with his young players who were also seeing the rivalry game for the first time on the varsity level.
“They stepped in and played pretty well. They came in and played pretty confident and didn’t turn the ball over. We were missing three of our top seven in the second half and they held it together and kept the lead,” Brooks said. “I was proud of those young guys stepping in and filling those roles tonight. The moment wasn’t too big for them. They stepped in and did what we needed them to do.”
Jackson Danielson was also seeing the shootout with Westside for the first time on the basketball side of things.
Danielson missed the second quarter with foul issues, but over three quarters, the junior standout scored 10 points and was a beast on the glass.
“That is his mentality night in and night out. He just happens to get in foul trouble because he plays like that. He is a dawg,” Brooks said. “He goes after every ball and he don’t care to go through you to get it. He will go get it. We have to have that from him.”
A triple from Bryson Huff early in the fourth quarter gave East its biggest lead of the night at 59-22.
“I think this is our sixth game this year (at the Armory) with four wins and two losses. The guys should be used to playing here by now,” Brooks said. “We do enjoy playing here. It is an easy road trip and it is an awesome experience for the guys to play in a facility like this.”
The experience was the key phrase and the key takeaway for the Westside coach as well.
“We weren’t even trying to score in the first quarter,” Evans said. “It was just pass, pass, pass. It is something to learn from. We may have to deal with Wyoming East in the sectional in a couple of weeks. We had to get a look at them and see what kind of pace they played with.”
“The game was a blessing for us,” Evans went on to say. “They are an established team that was in the state tournament last year and has won a lot of games over the last couple of years. That is the exact opposite of us. We are young and still learning, but it is all positive for us and a good learning experience.”
Wyoming East (14-6) travels to Chapmanville Thursday, while Westside (8-10) hosts Independence Friday.
W: 5 6 11 17 – 39
WE: 18 18 18 12 – 66
Westside
Dale Bledsoe 2, Hunter Lester 8, Kyler Kenneda 3, Bryson Blankenship 5, Parker Lambert 4, Colton Lester 6, Austin Bishop 5, Kyler Reed 6. Totals: 15 5-9 39.
Wyoming East
Cole Lambert 6, Bryson Huff 7, Jackson Danielson 10, Braxton Morgan 7, Garrett Mitchell 20, Zach Hunt 11, Landon Hodges 3, Brayden Hoosier 32. Totals: 21 16-20 66.