Chapmanville defeated Wyoming East 51-39 in the Class AA Region III championship Wednesday night at the Danny Godby Gymnasium to advance to next week's Class AA state tournament. The Tigers will face Ravenswood in the quarterfinals at 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning ( PHOTO | Holly Eldridge/Holly Eldridge Photography).
Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
CHAPMANVILLE Zion Blevins scored a game-high 18 points and fifth-ranked Chapmanville held off a furious Wyoming East rally to defeat the sixth-ranked Warriors 51-39 in the Class AA Region III championship Wednesday night at the Danny Godby Gymnasium.
Chapmanville won for the eighth straight time and the 14th time in its last 15 games. The win also gave the Tigers their eighth regional championship in school history.
Chapmanville advances to the Class AA boys state tournament for the seventh time in the past nine years. The Tigers (18-6) earned the third seed and will face sixth-seeded Ravenswood Thursday morning at 9:30 a.m. at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center.
The Tigers and Red Devils played in the quarterfinals of last season's state tournament with Chapmanville jumping out a 16-point lead and holding off a late Ravenswood rally for a 49-43 win.
Chapmanville scored the first 15 points and looked as if they would run the Warriors out of the gym Wednesday night. Joey Gollihue had two 3-pointers and Cam Blevins knocked down a third for Chapmanville in the opening five minutes before Wyoming East got on the board with 2:56 remaining when Konnor Fox scored inside.
Wyoming East and Chapmanville played to a stalemate over the remaining minutes of the first quarter with each team scoring seven points and the Tigers holding a 22-7 lead after one quarter of play.
The Warriors, who got to within six points on two occasions in the second quarter, outscored Chapmanville 10-3 in the second quarter and trailed 33-24 at halftime.
The Warriors would get within six points in the second half but could get no closer as Chapmanville pulled away knocking down 11 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter.
Chapmanville was 18 for 23 from the line while Wyoming East did not attempt a free throw in the loss.
Lambert scored a team-high 15 points and Bryson Huff added nine for Wyoming East, who ended the year with a record of 16-8.
Benji Adkins scored 10 points while Drew Berry and Gollihue each had eight for Chapmanville.
Class AA Region III Championship (Danny Godby Gymnasium-Chapmanville, WV)
Chapmanville 51, Wyoming East 39
Wyoming East Warriors (16-8)
Lambert 6 0-0 15, Hunt 2 0-0 5, Huff 4 0-0 9, Morgan 2 0-0 4, Fox 3 0-0 6. Totals: 17 0-0 39.
Chapmanville Tigers (18-6)
Blevins, Z. 4 10-12 18, Blevins, C. 2 1-1 6, Gollihue 3 0-0 8, Berry 2 3-4 8, Adkins, B. 4 2-4 10, Baisden 0 1-2 1. Totals: 15 18-23 51.
Wyoming East : 07 10 07 15 - 39
Chapmanville : 22 03 08 18 - 51
3-point field goals_Wyoming East 5 (Lambert 3, Hunt, Huff), Chapmanville 4 (Gollihue 2, Berry, Blevins, C.).