The boys state basketball tournament is still over two months away.
Saturday night inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center at the Little General Battle for the Armory, fans were treated to a possible Class AA state tournament showdown.
Meeting in the consolation game of the Burger King Division, No. 4 Charleston Catholic and No. 7 Wyoming East both looked to bounce back from a loss Friday night and grab some early season bragging rights.
The Warriors made it known they plan to be a key player when the postseason rolls around.
Powered by a double-double from sophomore Konnor Fox and a solid team effort, Wyoming East knocked off the defending AA state champions, 60-50.
“It was a big win tonight and I liked how we bounced back from last night,” Wyoming East interim head coach Herbie Brooks said. “I don’t think we played well last night. Not taking anything away from Beckley, they are tough. They are always tough. We left some buckets and made some mistakes out there.”
“I had a conversation with the guys today letting them know that we had a quality opponent coming in today,” Brooks went on to say. “Charleston Catholic is the defending state champion. They are down a couple of guys, but still a great basketball team that is well-coached. To bounce back and get a quality win like this, I think is big for the guys.”
The first 13 minutes of the opening half were a back-and-forth slugfest.
Wyoming East jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead, only to see it disappear on seven straight from the Irish. Triples from seniors Zach Hunt and Braxton Morgan in the last 1:40 put the Warriors back in front, 15-9, at the end of the first period.
Charleston Catholic opened the second quarter by scoring seven in a row for a 16-15 advantage, giving the Irish the first lead change of the night. Five lead changes later, Wyoming East was on top for good.
A hard drive from freshman Broc Johnson garnered the Warriors a 21-20 lead before a steal from fellow freshman Talan Muscari led to a bucket from Landen Hodges. The senior pushed the lead to six points with s 3-pointer and when he scored off of an offensive rebound with 14 seconds to play in the half, East led 30-22.
“Braxton Morgan keeps it together for us, for me. He is a good one. We have to have him doing what he does,” Brooks said. “Zach Hunt made some shots tonight. I told him getting off the bus that shots were going to fall tonight. Landon Hodges played well coming off the bench. I told him just play like you play in practice. I love these kids. I love the fact that we can tell them something and they will do it. That is the best part for me. If they listen, we will get them there.”
With the lead hovering at six points early in the third quarter, the Warriors started to make a move when Hunt drilled a triple and Muscari scored on a hard drive through contact. Back-to-back scores from sophomore Konnor Fox helped build the lead to the biggest of the night at 14 points.
Fox was a force all night for Wyoming East scoring 18 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and handing out three assists, controlling the paint.
“I had a conversation with him,” Brooks said about his big man. “Assistant coach Brian Mitchell, coach Randall (McKinney) and our stat guy P.J. Blankenship had a conversation on the bus. We felt like Konnor should get 15-20 rebounds every game, and he will have a double-double like tonight. We thought he would do some of that last night, but when he got the ball last night, they would double down on him and he would kick it out.”
“We let him know we had to have that play from him. He is 6-foot-9 and will not go against many guys like that. If he will post up down low on that block, not on the wing, and we don’t give it to them, I will get on them. He did those things tonight. He went after rebounds and he had some putbacks. If he does that we will be hard to beat.”
Fox scored the first six points of the fourth quarter for East, but when Zayden Ranson scored two of his team-high 18 points with 4:12 to play, the Warriors advantage was down to six points.
East did not blink.
Muscari calmed the waters when he converted two crucial free-throws after driving hard to the basket and drawing contact. Morgan then went beast-mode on the next possession for a rebound and a subsequent stickback prior to converting a pair of free-throws for a 58-46 lead with just over a minute to play.
Morgan tallied 10 points and had seven rebounds, while Muscari also had 10 points and six assists. Hunt ended with nine and Hodges scored seven.
“They are talented and they have been thrown into the fire,” Brooks said about his young players. “The last two nights we have been on the road in the Armory and they have handled it well.”
