PHOTO | Boothe Davis: Captured by the Moment Photography
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
LOGAN, WVa Jackson Tackett continued his impressive run against Scott with his third double-double of the season against the Skyhawks as Class AAA No. 2 Logan defeated No. 8 Scott 66-49 Friday night at Willie Akers Arena to capture its second consecutive Class AAA Region 4 Section 2 championship.
Tackett led Logan (22-2) with 22 points and hauled down 15 rebounds. Scotty Browning added 20 and Garrett Williamson 14 for the Wildcats, who will host Nitro (10-14) in one of two Class AAA Region 4 co-finals Tuesday night at 7 p.m. at Willie Akers Arena.
Logan defeated Nitro, 62-45, on Jan. 25 at Nitro High School. It is the fifth consecutive season that Logan has advanced to the regional co-finals and win Tuesday over Nitro would send Logan to the state tournament for the first time since the 2011-12 season.
Logan and Scott were tied 7-7 midway through the first quarter before Logan closed on a 10-0 run to lead 17-7 after one quarter of play.
Logan outscored Scott 14-7 in the second quarter and led 31-14 at halftime. The Wildcats made 11 of 29 attempts from the field in the first half while holding the Skyhawks to 4 of 22 shooting.
PHOTO | Boothe Davis: Captured by the Moment Photography
Scott caught fire in the third quarter, hitting on 8 of 12 attempts from the field while Logan was just 5 of 14 from the field, to outscore Logan 17-8 and trim a 17-point deficit to eight, 39-31, at the end of three.
The Skyhawks would draw to within six points on a few occasions in the fourth quarter, but the Wildcats iced the game from the free throw by connecting on 13 of 14 attempts from the charity stripe.
Reece Carden led all scorers with 26 points. Carden scored 11 of the Skyhawks 14 points in the first half and was the only player to reach double figures for the black and gold.
Despite the loss, Scott (15-9) will still have an opportunity to advance to its first state tournament in nine when they travel to Winfield (14-10) Tuesday night.
Scott started the season 4-6 but has won 11 of its last 14 games and will look to avenge an earlier season loss to Winfield. The Generals defeated the Skyhawks, 70-68, on Dec. 21 at Winfield High School.
Logan was 23 of 55 from the field and 4 of 17 from 3-point range. The Wildcats were nearly perfect from the free throw line connecting on 16 of 17 attempts.
Scott was 18 of 51 from the field and 5 of 25 from 3-point range and made 8 of 10 free throws.
At Willie Akers Arena
Class AAA Region 4 Section 2 Championship
Logan 66, Scott 49
Scott (15-9)
Jaren Gaiter 1-7 0-0 2, Landon Stone 2-4 1-2 6, Reece Carden 8-16 7-8 26, Isaac Setser 4-6 0-0 8, Braxton Dolin 2-4 0-0 4, Ian Jarrells 0-1 0-0 0, Cavin White 0-7 0-0 0, Jayden Sharps 1-6 0-0 3. Totals: 18-51 8-10 49.
Logan (22-2)
Scotty Browning 7-15 5-5 20, Garrett Williamson 4-10 4-5 14, Aiden Slack 1-6 2-2 4, Jaxon Cogar 2-6 0-0 4, Jackson Tackett 8-13 5-5 22, Julius Clancy 0-1 0-0 0, Derrick Browning 0-1 0-0 0, Chance Maynard 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 23-55 16-17 66.
Scott 7 7 17 18- 49
Logan 17 14 8 27- 66
3-point field goals- Scott 5-25 (Gaiter 0-3, Stone 1-2, Carden 3-9, Sester 0-1, Jarrells 0-1, White 0-4, Sharps 1-5), Logan 4-17 (Browning, S. 1-5, Williamson 2-6, Slack 0-3, Tackett 1-2, Browning, D. 0-1). Rebounds- Scott 24 (Carden 7), Logan 34 (Tackett 15). Assists- Scott 5 (Stone, Carden, Setser, Dolin), Logan 10 (Williamson 5). Total fouls- Scott 18, Logan 14. Fouled out- Stone. Technicals- None.