The way Wyoming East coach Rory Chapman saw it, Taylor Smith’s dunk with 2:11 remaining was worth more than two points.

The senior’s slam not only reestablished the Warriors’ double digit lead, it got his team and fans back in a contest Wyoming East would win, 77-63 Tuesday night at Shady Spring.

“No doubt about it, that dunk was better than just two points,” Chapman said. “It got us back in control, it energized the place. Our players and our fans feed off that. That was a big, big play.”

Smith, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, agreed.

“It’s better than two points,” Smith said. “Not literally, but metaphorically. It gets the guys fired up, gets the fans in the game and sometimes it intimidates the other team when you throw it down on their heads.”

The dunk gave Class AA No. 3 Wyoming East a 67-57 lead.

Shady would cut it to eight on a pair of occasions, but a 6-0 run late, including a run-out layin by Josh Tunstalle and a steal and layin by Luke Campbell, closed the door.

Shady Spring twice fell behind by 20, the second time late in the third quarter.

But the Tigers clawed back in it, as Chase Connor, held to nine points through three quarters, hit a a 2 and a 3 to end the third. The run continued in the fourth, with Jacob Buckland, and Connor combining for six points to complete an 11-0 run and make it 57-48 with 5:36 remaining.

After Wyoming East’s Marcus Schofield stemmed the tide momentarily, Connor hit a 3 and Steven Chhabra got a steal and layin to make it 59-53.

Shady Spring cut it to six with a chance to get it to four, but misfired on a 3.

Connor heated up in the fourth and finished with 19 points.

“I think our physical bodies disrupted him,” Chapman said. “We double-teamed him and had different guys on him. We had Schofield, Tunstalle, Campbell and (Christian) Hedinger on him at different times. It was huge. If you can hold a guy averaging close to 30 to 19 in his own gym, you’ll take it.”

“Our shooters just weren’t hitting shots early,” Shady Spring coach Steve Clark said. “They’re a hard matchup for us. They are big inside and they were hitting shots.”

Wyoming East broke up a close game early with a couple of runs, the second an 11-2 run that included a pair of Campbell 3s and another by Travis McKinney — all part of six 3s in the first half — that gave the Warriors a 40-20 lead. Wyoming East led by 18, 42-24, at the break.

Shady started creeping back in the game early in the third, using a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to 45-34, but a 12-3 run-out by the Warriors made it 57-37.

In addition to Smith, Wyoming East was led by Schofield, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Campbell, who tossed in 21.

Jacob Buckland had a double-double for Shady Spring with 19 points and 13 rebounds. Jordan Meadows added 10.

“It’s frustrating not being able to finish teams off,” Smith said. “We need to step on a team’s throat when we have them down. It’s something we need to start doing.”

Wyoming East (12-4) is at rival Westside Friday before hosting Oak Hill Saturday.

Shady Spring (8-9) hosts PikeView Friday ahead of a Tuesday home game against Westside.

Wyoming East 77, Shady Spring 63

Wyoming East (12-4)

Austin Canada 1 1-2 4, Luke Campbell 8 2-2 21, Marcus Schofield 8 6-6 22, Travis McKinney 2 0-0 6, Josh Tunstalle 4 0-0 8, Christian Hedinger 0 0-0 0, Kyle Smith 0 0-0 0, Taylor Smith 8 0-2 16. Totals: 31 9-12 77.

Shady Spring (8-9)

Chase Connor 6 5-5 19, Steven Chhabra 1 0-0 2, Jordan Meadows 3 2-2 10, Tyler Bonds 0 0-0 0, Jacob Buckland 7 5-6 19, Ryan Lucas 3 0-0 8, Corey Synder 2 0-0 5. Totals: 22 12-13 63.

WE    16    26    15    20    —    77

SS    8    16    18    21    —    63

Three-point goals — WE: 6 (Canada, Campbell 3, McKinney 2); SS: 7 (Connor 2, Meadows 2, Lucas 2, Snyder). Fouled out — none.