If, in fact, Oak Hill is the No. 2 team in the state in Class AA — which may not be the case come Monday — then Wyoming East may want to clear out a space for its fourth Class AA state championship trophy.

A quick start — predicated on precision execution and sizzling shooting — helped the Class AA No. 1 Warriors in a 71-51 win over the Red Devils Saturday in the Class AA championship of the Big Atlantic Classic at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

The Warriors went 10-of-14 from the field (71.3 percent) in opening a commanding 27-11 lead.

After that, the Devils were done.

They would never get closer than 11 and went down by as many as 22.

“That first quarter is a good example of what we can be as an offensive team,” Wyoming East first-year coach Rory Chapman said. “I thought we were mentally tough and we came out and played that way. If we ever put three or four like that together, it’s going to be hard for anybody to beat us.”

Indeed. It took the Warriors the second and third quarters to total 27 points. And they finished with 17 in the final eight minutes.

But that blitzkrieg start was more than enough to finish off what had been a highly anticipated match of No. 1 vs. No. 2.

“They gave us a lesson in basketball,” Oak Hill coach Fred Ferri said. “You look at it and we’re just behind 27-11, but for us, the game is over.

“The bottom line is this: They are a much, much better team than we are. Are they as talented as we are? Well, no, probably not. But they are smarter. They play together as a team. And we don’t.

“Right now we are not good enough to play with the elite teams. We’re not.”

At least not the one they played Saturday.

“We came in to prove a point,” Chapman said. “We felt like we were the underdog at PikeView Wednesday night (in a double-overtime win) and then a lot of people thought Oak Hill was going wipe the floor with us.”

It was the fifth Big Atlantic Class AA title for the Warriors and the fifth straight time they have beaten Oak Hill. Oak Hill has lost seven times over the last two seasons, all to Wyoming East and defending Class AA champion Ravenswood.

“I’ve been telling people since the season started that this is the best team I’ve played on,” said point guard Evan Muscari, who had 11 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and five steals. “When we won the title my freshman year, we had (Justin) Caldwell and we got the ball in his hands. Then the next year we won it and we had Corey Willard. Last year it was Gentry (Shrewsbury).

“This year we don’t have any dominant player. We’re all the same. And we function really well as a team.”

Muscari is a perfect example.

After Oak Hill trimmed the deficit to 13 early in the second quarter, Muscari twice stole the ball from Deandre Leonard and converted them into easy lay-ins to start another East run.

A 9-4 run to close the second put the Warriors ahead 40-22 at the break.

Chase Morgan led the Warriors with 25 points, including 3-for-3 on 3s and 8-for-8 at the stripe. Alex Webb added 20 and Andrew Bishop 11.

Jack Flournoy had 23 to lead Oak Hill. Kalif Wright had 12 and Thomas Booth 10.

“Until we get our attitudes right, this is what’s going to happen,” Ferri said. “We talked about this time and time again. Teams are going to make runs. You have to be able to withstand that.”

“They have a great team,” Muscari said. “They have a couple of Division I players in Kalif Wright and Jack (Flournoy). And Leonard could probably be a Division I player, too. But five is going to beat three every time.”

In fact, it’s not even a fair fight.



Wyoming East 71, Oak Hill 51

Oak Hill (11-2)

Deandre Leonard 1-9 4-4 6, Thomas Booth 4-5 1-1 10, Jack Flournoy 8-17 7-7 23, Kyle Colon 0-3 0-0 0, Kalif Wright 6-11 0-1 12, Noah Smith 0-2 0-0 0. Totals: 19-47 12-14 51.

Wyoming East (11-1)

Evan Muscari 4-10 3-3 11, Alex Webb 8-15 0-0 20, Chase Morgan 7-11 8-8. 25, Marcus Schofield 2-3 0-0 4, Andrew Bishop 2-6 2-2 11, Trey Fralin 0-1 0-0 0, Luke Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Zack Foley 0-0 0-0 0, Taylor Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-47 13-13 71.

OH 11 11 19 10 — 51

WE 27 13 14 17 — 71

Three-point goals: OH: 1 (Booth); WE: 8 (Webb 4, Morgan 3, Bishop); Fouled out: WE: Schofield.