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Wyoming East at PikeView
Wyoming East (74) Vs. PikeView (62)
Jan 27, 2012
By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
GARDNER — The Wyoming East Warriors were determined to set the tone Friday night in the PikeView gym. That tone turned out to be sound — as in, sound defense.
The Warriors (9-3), ranked fourth in Class AA boys basketball, scrambled over and through the Panthers (5-8), jumping to a 7-1 lead and maintaining their advantage until late in the game to earn a 74-62 win.
Wyoming East head coach Rory Chapman said, “We’ve struggled over here in the last two years, we really have.
“We just talked about being focused on defense, and starting fast. We jumped out on them and we set the tone for the ballgame, right from the get-go, through our defense and our rebounding.”
Point guard Luke Campbell said, “We came out with pride and we got a little spark. When you get out to a good start, it never ends. And defense, also, that’s the main thing.”
PikeView head coach William Anderson said, “They shot real well at the beginning, and we dug ourselves our own hole, not covering on defense. ... They executed real well.”
Campbell had a pair of steals that turned into Wyoming East points in the first half, helping the Warriors to a 44-24 edge at the break. PikeView had made six field goals and turned the ball over 12 times.
Taylor Smith, who led the Warriors with 19 points and 12 rebounds, said, “We played PikeView at our house and we played very sloppy, and they almost gave us a loss there, at the very beginning of the season.
“They play intense, and they play defense, and they play hard. So we just had to come out and play harder than they did.”
Guard Austin Canada said at halftime the discussion was to “just come back out and keep the intensity up on defense.”
The Panthers got the first two field goals of the second half, on a slicing layup by Will Webster and a baseline jumper from Zach Van Blaricom, but the Warriors responded with an 11-3 run to reassert their lead.
PikeView went on a 17-6 tear to open the final quarter, with five points from Webster, trimming their deficit to 68-52 and forcing a Wyoming East timeout. The Panthers closed out the game with a 10-6 splurge to keep the final margin relatively close.
David Keen led PikeView with 20 points, going 6-for-6 at the foul line. Webster scored 19 points and had six rebounds.
Campbell, who had 16 points, said, “As a point guard, I look to pass first. If it comes and my shot’s falling, that’s fine. I’ll take it. As long as we win, it doesn’t matter.”
By the end of the game, the officials had called 50 fouls — 27 on Wyoming East and 23 on PikeView.
Chapman said, “It’s a physical game. With us and PikeView, any time you get these two teams that play physical together, you’re going to get a lot of beating and hacking on each other.”
Smith said, “They did a good job of bringing their two men down there [to guard him in the paint]. I just tried to keep the ball in real tight, and go up strong, and try to break through. I can do that, sometimes.”
Smith said the win “gives us confidence. Over here at PikeView, it’s hard to win. ... If we play hard, and play smart, and intense on defense, we can win.”
Anderson said Wyoming East is “definitely a top-five team. They’re in a very tough section. Our section, this year, is a little bit more equal. Bluefield’s at the top right now, but the rest of us are pretty equal.”
Chapman said, “You’ve got to give them credit, too. They never did quit. They played ’til the final horn, and they played with an aggressive style.”
Anderson said, “Our boys, they don’t know quit. Until that buzzer sounds, they’ll be playing. That’s a tribute to them for not quitting.”
PikeView plays its next two games on the road, at Greenbrier West on Tuesday and at Summers County on Feb. 4.
Anderson said, “Greenbrier West is a very good team, and playing at Summers County, it’s always a tough place to play.”
“We can’t let up. The things we did wrong, we’re really going to try to correct it. We have to push on. We’re getting ready for the postseason. That’s what everybody’s playing for.”
Wyoming East is in the midst of a busy stretch of its schedule, playing Woodrow Wilson in Beckley tonight followed by a game in the Big Atlantic Tournament in Beckley on Monday.
Smith said, “You’ve just got to push through. It’s a mental game. If we push through, and play hard and play intense and push through, we can come up with two ‘Ws,’ Saturday and Monday, no doubt.”
Chapman said, “We got to rest a lot of guys tonight. We dominated in all phases of the game, and we got to rest ... some of these guys so they won’t be dead-legged [Saturday].”
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com

At PikeView High School
WYOMING EAST (9-3)
Austin Canada 5 0-0 11, Luke Campbell 7 0-0 16, Marcus Schofield 1 2-2 4, Travis McKinney 1 0-0 3, Josh Tunstalle 3 1-4 7, Christian Hedinger 2 2-4 6, Kyle Smith 2 3-6 7, Brett Bowling 0 1-2 1, Taylor Smith 7 5-9 19. Totals 28 14-27 74.
PIKEVIEW (5-8)
Will Webster 5 8-13 19, Zach Van Blaricom 2 4-8 8, Jason Weitzel 2 2-2 6, Tyler Ruble 2 1-3 5, Darius Hazelwood 1 0-0 2, David Keen 6 6-6 20, Willie Sizemore 1 0-0 2. Totals 19 21-32 62.
Wyoming East.................18 26 18 12 — 74
PikeView............................5 19 12 26 — 62
Three-point goals: WE 4 (Canada 1, Campbell 2, McKinney 1). PV 3 (Webster 1, Keen 2). Fouled out: WE, Kyle Smith. Total fouls: WE 27, PV 23.
Nightly Roundup
Game Scoreboard
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 OT SCORE
Wyoming East 18 26 18 12 0 74
PikeView 5 19 12 26 0 62
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