BY ANTHONY STEVENS
For the Daily Telegraph
HONAKER, Va. — It was win or go home night at A.P. Baldwin Gymnasium on Tuesday. Both the Honaker boys and girls advanced to the Region 1A-West semifinals with victories. The Honaker boys started fast and never looked back as they rolled to a 60-41 win over J.I. Burton.
“I’m proud of my team, we played some good basketball,” said Honaker coach Marcus Dunham. “We came out with a lot of intensity, a lot of aggression and hit Burton with a big punch early.”
Senior Tyler Hale got the Tigers off to a fast start. Hale hit three treys in the first quarter to help power Honaker (18-7) to a 24-9 lead at the end of the first period. The Raiders could never cut the lead to single digits. The Tigers held a 35-17 advantage at halftime.
“Honaker took it to us from the get-go,” J.I. Burton coach Aaron Williams said. “They kind of put us back on our heels and we never recovered. Give Honaker credit, they were prepared and ready for the game.”
The Tigers kept up the pressure in the second half. Honaker stayed in a 2-3 zone most of the night. The Raiders never could get comfortable against it. Alex Keys (11 points) and Ervin Beaty (10 points) were the offensive leaders for J.I. Burton (13-11).
Hale led the Tigers with a game-high 16 points. Randy Horton had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Casey Dye added 15 points in the win.
Honaker will play the Radford-George Wythe winner on Friday at 6 o’clock.

J.I. BURTON (13-11)
Johnson 2 1-3 6, Keys 5 1-2 11, Beaty 3 4-5 10, VanNess 0 0-0 0, Thompson 1 0-0 3, T. Adams 1 0-0 2, Davis 0 0-0 0, Kyle 0 0-0 0, Stidham 0 0-0 0, Ward 0 0-0 0, B. Adams 0 0-0 0, Tate 4 1-2 9, Collins 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-12 41.
HONAKER (18-7)
Hale 6 1-4 16, Dye 6 3-6 15, Horton 4 3-4 11, Lester 2 0-0 4, Harman 4 0-0 8, Sample 1 0-0 2, Ray 1 1-2 4, Coleman 0 0-0 0, Hutchinson 0 0-0 0, Mullins 0 0-0 0, Smith 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 8-16 60.
J.I. Burton....................9 8 10 14 — 41
Honaker......................24 11 17 8 — 60
3-point goals – J.I. Burton 2 (Johnson 1, Thompson 1), Honaker 4 (Hale 3, Ray 1). Total fouls – J.I. Burton 12, Honaker 12. Fouled out - none. Technicals – none.