Moving On
Tigers advance in sectional play
ELKINS — The Elkins Tigers utilized a stingy defense Saturday to upend Liberty, 45-31, in the first round of the Class AA Region II Section 1 Tournament.
“It was a good win for us,” EHS coach Brandon Simmons said. “It was win or go home. Now, we’ve got another big one coming up. The boys really pumped up their game and wanted to play. We had some confidence coming in. We beat them about a week before, so we were feeling pretty good. We had the home-court advantage as well.”
Elliot White set the pace for the Tigers with 19 points. Senior guard Dalton Hamrick also reached double digits in scoring with 15 points. Jacob White, 6 points, Devan Ricottilli, 4 points, and Matt Wilson, 1 point, rounded out the scoring for EHS.
For the Mountaineers, Mason Riley was the top scorer with 9 points. Chance Howell and Christian Drummond also chipped in 5 points each for LHS.
The Tigers got out to a quick start, taking a 25 to 13 advantage into the locker room at halftime. Liberty battled back to take the third period, 5-8. However, Elkins closed out with a 15-10 fourth quarter to seal the victory.
“It was a defensive win for us,” Simmons said. “Not one of their players was in double figures. So when you can hold a team to 31 points, you’ve got a pretty good chance of winning the game. So, I’m definitely proud of the effort on the defensive end.”
No. 4 seed Elkins (9-14) will now travel to No. 1 seed Robert C. Byrd on Tuesday for the Class AA Region II Section 1 semi final. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m