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CHARLESTON -- Elkins' historic season ended in a 66-49 loss to Fairmont Senior Friday night in Class AAA semifinal action at the Charleston Civic Center.
The sixth-seeded Tigers finished with a 17-10 record and won their first state tourney game in 73 years in Thursday's quarterfinal victory over third-seed Ripley.
Fellow Big 10 Conference member and second-seed Fairmont Senior, however, used 24 points from Zycheus Dobbs and 22 points and 16 rebounds from DeSean Goode to advance to face top-seed Shady Spring at 7:30 p.m. today in a rematch of last year's game won by the Polar Bears.
Harper came out on fire early for Elkins, canning three treys and scoring 11 of his 16 points in the opening quarter as the Tigers built a 15-10 lead.
The Polar Bears responded by scoring the final four points of the frame and the run continued into the second quarter as a pair free throws from Dobbs gave Fairmont Senior a 19-15 cushion.
Malachi Watson, who tossed in 20 points answered on the other end with a layup to bring Elkins to within two but the Polar Bears closed the half on a 15-6 surge to lead 34-21 at halftime.
The deficit moved to 17 points in the third before Harper's trey cut made it 38-24 with 5:30 left in the quarter.
Trailing 49-30 after three quarters, the Tigers continued to battle in the fourth, with a dunk by Harper and 3-pointer by Watson making it 58-45 with 2:09 remaining but Elkins came no closer.
Tanner Miller added 11 points and six assists in the loss.
The Tigers lose a senior group which captured back-to-back sectional crowns. They include Harper, Watson, Miller, Baines, Max Jackson, Aaron O'Neill, Addison McCauley, Jack Bragg and Hunter Harlan.
Elkins (17-10)
Cory Harper 6 4-8 16, Tanner Miller 4 1-1 11, Ben Baines 1 0-0 2, Malachi Watson 8 3-7 20, Max Jackson 0 0-0 0, Brock Holland 0 0-0 0, Addison McCauley 0 0-0 0 Aaron O'Neill 0 0-0 0, Griffin Boggs 0 0-0 0, Caleb Ray 0 0-0 0, Hunter Harlan 0 0-0 0, Jack Bragg 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 4-8 49
Fairmont Senior (25-1)
Andre Grant 3 2-5 8, Connor Gower 2 2-2 7, Zycheus Dobbs 5 14-16 24, DeSean Goode 11 0-0 22, Julz Butler 1 0-0 3, Latiq Williams 1 0-0 2, Jaleel Law 0 0-0 0, Cole Gilmore 0 0-0 0, Naelyn Chandra 0 0-0 0, Layne Kidd 0 0-0 0, Darrell Claybrook 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 18-23 66
Elkins 15 6 9 19 -- 49
Fairmont Senior 14 20 15 17 -- 66
3-point goals: EHS 7 (Harper 4, Miller 2 and Watson), FS 2 (Gower Butler)