Warriors cruise past Knights

CLEAR FORK — Wyoming East secured its second straight trip to the boys state basketball tournament with a 93-54 romp over Mount View Thursday night at Westside High School in the Class AA Region 8 championship.

Gentry Shrewsbury dominated the paint for the Warriors with a 32-point effort, while Cory Willard lit it up from the outside for 21 points. Blake Cook chipped in 12 points.

“We took control through great hustle, getting in passing lanes, pressure defense, changing defenses and different presses all night,” Wyoming East coach Jesse Lester said. “It just really confused them. Our kids just came out on fire and really played a great game.”

Wyoming East (21-3) hit the floor running from the opening tip, reeling off nine unanswered points in the first minute of play.

The Warriors’ pressure defense forced 12 Golden Knight turnovers in the first quarter and converted them into easy points on the other end.

“I thought early on that it might be a problem for us,” Mount View coach Randall Wright said. “It was just too many (turnovers), too early.”

Up 25-14 after one quarter of play, the Warriors went on a 15-0 run to start the second and never looked back.

“We knew that our pressure would probably get to them,” Lester said. “We knew changing defenses was a strategy to try to keep them confused about which pressure they were seeing.”

Willard led the run with three of his five three-pointers.

The Warriors took a 33-point lead to the locker room at half.

Mount View (8-13) showed a spark in the third quarter, using a 15-2 run to cut the East advantage to 20 points.

Cordero High led the run, scoring eight of his 15 points in the third. C.J. Wiseman added 14 points for the Knights.

Wyoming East removed all doubt to the outcome with a 10-0 run to start the final eight minutes of play.

The Warriors now await the seeding of the Class AA field to see who they will face in the state tournament, which begins next Wednesday at the Charleston Civic Center.



Mount View (8-13)

Cedric Wright 0 0-0 0, Rumeal Porterfield 0 0-0 0, Alvin Gravely 3 0-0 6, C.J. Wiseman 4 5-8 14, Cordero High 6 0-2 15, James Riley 0 0-0 0, Steven Ford 1 0-0 2, Deonte Marshall 2 0-2 4, Jeremy Hayes 3 0-0 6, Quan Parker 2 1-1 5, Malcolm Brown 0 2-2 2, Robert Redd 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 8-15 54.

Wyoming East (21-3)

Cory Willard 8 0-1 21, Evan Muscari 3 2-2 8, Adam Repass 0 0-0 0, Gentry Shrewsbury 13 6-11 32, Travis Smith 3 2-4 8, Blake Cook 5 2-5 12, Brandon Belcher 2 0-0 4, Kody McKracken 1 0-0 3, Anthony Fuller 0 0-0 0, Kyle McGraw 0 1-2 1, Andrew Bishop 1 0-2 2, Zach Mullins 1 0-0 2. Totals: 37 13-27 93.

OH 25 18 21 13 — 77

C 2 8 10 17 — 37

Three-point goals: MV: 4 (Wiseman, High 3); WE: 6 (Willard 5, McKracken); Fouled out: MV: Hayes.