NEW RICHMOND, W.Va. — A balanced offensive attack allowed Class AA No. 2 Wyoming East to collect their eighth consecutive win, 74-54 over Logan. With the victory, the Warriors swept the regular season series against the Wildcats.
Five weeks ago, the Warriors were tested for 32 minutes before holding on for a 62-56 win at Willie Akers Arena.
“I think we were more prepared for the zone. Down there, I just didn’t anticipate Coach [Mark] Hatcher going to a zone. He has been predominately a man-to-man type of guy. When we were down there and they pulled the zone out, we just weren’t prepared for it. It stymied us, made us stagnant and standing around,” said Wyoming East head coach Kent McBride on the differences between the two games. “I thought we were much more prepared in where we could get shots in attacking that zone.”
Sophomore guard Talan Muscari led four Warriors scoring in double-digits. He scored 22 points while connecting on five three-pointers.
“Talan has really been shooting the ball well lately. Him making those shots and kind of relaxing everybody, it pulled them out and gave us driving lanes. Making those shots early was big.”
Keegan Davidson scored 14 points for the Warriors (18-2). Broc Johnson added 13 points and Konnor Fox chipped in with 10.
“You look at our averages and I think we are 16, 14, 13, 12 and I think we have an 8. That’s kind of how we play. Each game it is somebody different. It was Talan tonight going. Last game, I think Broc Johnson had 26. We have Keegan [Davidson]. We are blessed in that manner.”
The 54 points scored by the Wildcats are their third-fewest in a game this season.
“We knew they were going to play through Ivan Miller kind of at the one. They use him in a unique situation. That’s a tough spot for us because we have Konnor [Fox] at 6-foot-9 and that pulls him out. So it is kind of a chess match between [Hatcher] and I. So we were prepared for that.”
East has earned the No. 1 seed in the Class AA Region III tournament. They will host the winner of the Mingo Central/Summers County game on March 6. Their two losses are the second-fewest in Class AA behind only defending state champion Wheeling Central Catholic (19-0).
“I think we have played the best [Class] AA schedule in the state. We did that our purpose. We went through some hard times, individually and collectively. I think it got us to where we are to where now we have kind of hit a bit of a groove. We have been playing really good since we left the Greenbrier earlier this month, we hit a groove. So we have to keep that going.”
Lucas Lambert led Logan (9-13) with 23 points. Miller added 14. The Wildcats will host Scott on March 6 in the Class AA Region IV tournament.