AM
Warriors bounced by Dots
Wyoming East (55) Vs. Poca (85)
Mar 18, 2016
By RUSTY UDY
for the Daily Telegraph
CHARLESTON — Teams have tried all season to slow the pace of the game down against defending Class AA state champion Poca.
The Dots showed why that was so important Friday afternoon.
Class AA No. 1 Poca was like a runaway freight train, steamrolling Wyoming East for a 85-55 win in the West Virginia Boys State High School Basketball Tournament semifinals.
The win sends Poca back to the title game today at noon against Fairmont Senior, the team it beat in last year's title game.
"Coming into the game, our plan was to try and run it back against Poca," Wyoming East head coach Rory Chapman said. "Obviously, that didn't turn out in our favor. Other teams have tried to slow it down against them, but they were not able to win those games either. We wanted to be true to our style and play up-tempo basketball."
The Warriors, who never led in the game, started slow and Poca took advantage early. The Warriors fell behind 7-0, before David Carte broke the ice at the 4:50 mark.
Wyoming East cut the lead to four late in the quarter at 11-7, but a Chase Dotson stickback made it 13-7 after one quarter.
Then Poca took its game to another level.
Elijah Cuffee drilled a 3-pointer off of a long rebound, then Luke Frampton scored on a jumper from the elbow. Cuffee stole the inbounds pass and wound up converting two foul shots for a 20-7 lead.
It was 22-7 before R.J. Foldon made a 3-pointer to stop the run with just under six minutes before halftime.
The ability of Frampton and Cuffee to get in the lane was key to the huge second quarter for Poca.
"Frampton and Cuffee were both just phenomenal today," Chapman said. "We pride ourselves on pressure defense, but when we get beat off of the dribble, we expect guys to be there to contest shots and take charges. In the second quarter we just didn't do some of the things we were supposed to."
When Foldon nailed a jumper at the 4:01 mark, unfortunately for Wyoming East it was to break another 12-0 Poca run.
The halftime horn sounded to close Poca's dominating quarter and the Dots led 46-14, basically securing their spot in the championship game.
"The quarter was like a domino effect," Chapman said. "We started taking quick shots and got out of our rhythm on offense and pressed a little bit. They scored 33 points to our seven and there is no way to climb back in after that."
The Warriors showed a lot of heart in the third quarter, cutting the deficit back to 53-31. Poca, however, closed the quarter with a 10-4 run to end any hope of a comeback.
"I thought the first half we played really well," Poca coach Allen Osborne said. "Our defense was just outstanding. We got back and took away their transition game and kept them off of the boards. We also took good care of the ball. Those were the three things we wanted to do today. We only had 10 turnovers against their pressure, which I thought was very good."
Two key statistics were Poca's advantage in points in the paint (40-22) and points off turnovers (21-10).
Cuffee scored 20 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and had seven assists, while Frampton had 24 points and six assists. Foldon led the Warriors with 14 and Cody Lester and David Carte added eight apiece.
Although it was not the ending they desired, the Warriors close out a great year finishing 20-5.
"I told the guys in the locker room, they have been great all season," Chapman said. "Going 20-5, having a lot of success this season after going through some ups and downs, I am really proud of these guys. They will fight anytime for me."

WYOMING EAST (20-5)
Jonathan Sims 2-5 0-0 5, R.J. Foldon 4-14 4-4 14, Logan Blankenship 2-8 0-0 4, Cody Lester 2-8 4-6 8, David Carte 4-9 0-0 8, Logan Mullins 0-0 4-4 4, Corey McKinney 1-3 0-0 2, Alec Lusk 1-1 0-0 2, Zach Cook 0-1 2-2 2, Dylan Brehm 0-3 0-0 0, Logan Davidson 1-1 0-0 2, Logan Bland 1-1 0-0 2, Even Preece 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 19-55 14-16 55
POCA (25-2)
Elijah Cuffee 7-17 4-5 20, Austin Henrich 3-4 0-0 6, Luke Frampton 9-18 4-5 24, Chase Dotson 1-1 0-0 2, Mitch Hoffman 0-0 2-2 2, Carson Cottrill 1-1 0-0 3, Trace Jarrett 1-2 0-0 2, J.P. Phillips 3-5 0-0 7, Alex Hamrick 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 31-67 15-18 85
Wyoming East.......7 7 21 20 — 55
Poca......................13 33 17 22 — 85
3-point goals: WE: 3 (Sims, Foldon 2), P: 8 (Cuffee 2, Meeks 2, Frampton 2, Phillips). Fouled out: WE (Lusk)
Nightly Roundup
Mar 18, 2016 Nightly Roundups
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Wyoming East 7 7 21 20 0 55
Poca Dots 13 33 17 22 0 85
Home | Game Schedules | Archive Coverage
Player of the Week | Bounce Blog | Memorable Matchups
www.BDTBounce.com
Copyright © BDTBounce.com
All rights reserved. Do not duplicate or redistribute in any form.
Site Designed By: MotionLX, LLC