Logan's Derrick Browning (10) drains a 3 in the second quarter of Logan's 78-52 victory over Herbert Hoover Thursday night at Willie Akers Arena. Browning, one of four players in double figures, scored 14 points off the bend for the Wildcats (Boothe Davis/Captured by the Moment Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
LOGAN Scotty Browning led four Wildcats in double figures with 28 points as Class AAA No. 3 Logan hit 66 percent of its shots from the field and defeated sixth-ranked Herbert Hoover 78-52 at Willie Akers Arena Thursday night.
Derrick Browning scored 14 points off the bench, Garrett Williamson scored 10 points to go along with nine assists and seven rebounds and Jarron Glick had 10 for the Wildcats.
“Derrick is a very intelligent basketball player,” Logan coach Zach Green said following the win. “He knows where to be, he is doing the right thing defensively and those two guys (Derrick and Scotty) can fill it up.”
Scotty, who scored 16 of his game-high 28 points in the first half, was 12 of 17 from the field and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. Derrick scored nine of his 14 points in the second half and shot 6 of 10 from the field and was 2 of 6 from 3.
“Scotty and Garrett are usually two guys that fill up the scoring column,” Green said. “We have four or five guys every night that can do the same and it was Derrick’s turn tonight.”
The Wildcats shot 66 percent from the floor (33 of 50) on the night and made 6 of 16 (37.5 percent) 3-point attempts.
“I don’t think there is a question that this team can score the ball,” Green said. “We done it in the summer, we have done it in the fall, we have done it in the preseason and have done it to start the season.”
Logan never trailed in the game and led 22-6 after one quarter thanks in part to an 18-2 run that broke a 4-4 tie following Wes Miller’s 3-point play for Herbert Hoover.
Logan led by as many as 22 points in the first half and held a 39-22 lead at halftime.
Herbert Hoover made a run at Logan in the third quarter and started the quarter on 19-9 run to cut the deficit to seven, 48-41, on Donovan Brown’s third 3-pointer of the quarter with 2:53 to play.
The Huskies had chances to draw closer in the third quarter but missed layups and the inability to get back in transition allowed the Wildcats to close the quarter on a 9-3 run to take a 57-44 lead after three quarters.
“We just couldn’t get ourselves over the hump, when we had it in single digits, we missed a layup and they would go down and hit a 3, we would turn it over and they get another layup,” Herbert Hoover coach Josh Stricker said. “We were down 22 and cut it to seven and I couldn’t be any more prouder of my guys especially playing in this type of environment.”
The lead remained in double digits for the final 8:42 as Hoover never got any closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
In the third quarter, the Huskies connected on 9 of 15 shots from the field, but the Wildcats changed up their defense and held the Huskies to 4 of 11 shooting in the fourth quarter.
“We made some defensive switches, got out of the full court press and went back to halfcourt man," Green said. "We were really focused on stopping (Eli) Robertson, and we ran a bunch of guys at him, wore him down and I felt that was the difference."
In the fourth quarter, Logan outscored Herbert Hoover 21-8 and connected on 10 of 15 shots from the field in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats were 9 of 9 from inside the arc as Williamson was able to dish out four of his nine assists in the fourth quarter.
“We spread them out a little bit and were able to get in gaps,” Green said. “Garrett went on a stretch where he had four or five assists in a row and getting guys open looks.”
Robertson was 8 of 16 from the field and finished with 18 points to lead Herbert Hoover in scoring. Brown finished with 14 points on 5 of 11 shooting.
The Huskies overcame a slow shooting performance in the first quarter, connecting on 2 of 8 shots from the field, to shoot 46.8 percent (22 for 47) for the game.
“We really relied on them (Robertson and Brown) this game for scoring and everybody else would try and chip in,” Stricker said. “We missed a lot of easy buckets in the first half, missed layups and missed opportunities.”
Herbert Hoover will travel to Philip Barbour Saturday as part of the Big 10-Cardinal Conference Challenge.
Herbert Hoover dressed just eight players Thursday night as those that joined following football season, including guard Dane Hatfield, get the necessary practice days in before being allowed to compete.
Stricker feels that with a full roster, Herbert Hoover is a top three team in Class AAA.
“I am glad we played Logan first,” Stricker said. “It shows us where we need to be to be a top three team in the state, and when we get everyone back, I feel that we are a top three team in the state.”
Logan (2-0) is back in action Saturday at defending Class AAA champion and second ranked Fairmont Senior.
“There is a lot of weapons on that basketball team, and we are going to have to be able to do all the small things and win all the small battles in order to beat them especially on the road,” Green said. “We are going to have to be really locked in, and we are going to have to be tougher than them to go in there and get a win.”
Saturday’s game is the first of two meetings between the Wildcats and Polar Bears. They will meet Feb. 6 in the ParMar Stores Shootout at West Virginia State University.
Logan 78, Herbert Hoover 52
Herbert Hoover (0-1)
Robertson 8-16 0-3 18, Brown 5-11 1-2 14, Miller 4-6 1-1 9, Buckner 3-5 0-0 7,
Phillips 1-3 0-0 2, Wentz 1-6 0-0 2. Totals: 22-47 2-6 52.
Logan (2-0)
Browning, S. 12-17 1-1 28, Browning, D. 6-10 0-0 14, Williamson 4-5 1-2 10,
Glick 4-6 2-2 10, Clancy 3-6 0-0 6, Miller 2-3 0-0 4, Ilderton 2-2 0-0 4, Berry 0-0 2-2 2, Blankenship 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 33-50 6-7 78.
Hoover 6 16 22 8- 52
Logan 22 17 18 21- 78
3-point field goals- Herbert Hoover 6-19 (Robertson 2-8, Brown 3-6, Buckner 1-3, Wentz 0-2), Logan 6-16 (Browning, S. 3-4, Browning, D. 2-6, Williamson 1-1, Glick 0-2, Clancy 0-2, Blankenship 0-1). Rebounds- Herbert Hoover 16 (Miller 4, Phillips 4), Logan 18 (Williamson 7). Assists- Herbert Hoover 8 (Robertson 3), Logan 16 (Williamson 9). Total fouls- Herbert Hoover 10, Logan 10.