In high school basketball action, the Chapmanville Tigers and the East Ridge, Ky. Warriors advanced to the finals of the Bob Runyon Memorial Holiday Tournament Friday night.
The Tigers held off a late rally by the Mt. View Golden Knights 45-38 and East Ridge survived the Man Hillbillies 54-51 in overtime.
In game one of the evening, East Ridge rallied from a 38-31 second-half deficit, withstood seven three-pointers by the Hillbillies and a game-high 21 points from senior Caleb Blevins to take a 48-44 lead with under a minute remaining. Man had their own rally to tie the game at 48-48 to force overtime.
The Hillbillies took a 51-48 edge early in overtime, but five quick points by the Warriors’ Isaac Woods, including a three-pointer, gave East Ridge the lead for good. A game-tying three-pointer by Man was wide off the mark and pushed the Warriors into the finals.
Aden Martin added 14 points for Man while Trey Brown finished the night with 11 points.
In game two Friday night, Chapmanville jumped all over Mt. View in the first half. The Tigers’ pressure defense forced numerous turnovers to open up a 29-15 lead going into the half.
In the third quarter, Chapmanville and Mt. View struggled from the field as both teams battled to a 4-4 tie in the period, but the Golden Knights picked up their offense in the fourth quarter. Mt. View rallied from 14 points down to cut the Tigers lead to five with under two minutes to play.
Junior Brody Dalton then hit a big three to extend the Tigers lead, and Chapmanville was able to hold off the Golden Knights for their sixth win over Mt. View in the Bob Runyon Memorial Holiday Tournament since 2013.
Sophomore Zion Blevins led the way for the Tigers with 16 points, while Dalton finished with 11 points.
The tournament will conclude Saturday night with Man taking on Mt. View at 7 p.m. in the consolation game, while Chapmanville will take on East Ridge in the title game at approximately 8:30 p.m.
Both games can be heard on WVOW Radio. Coverage begins at 6:50 p.m.