BAKER — Second-seed East Hardy placed four players in double figures to hand No. 3 Tygarts Valley a 53-34 setback in a Class A, Region 2 final on Wednesday night.

Scoring slumps in each of the first and fourth quarters doomed the Bulldogs. who rallied from a 19-5 first-quarter deficit to cut the margin to 42-32 after three quarters.

But Tygarts Valley managed just two points in the final frame as the Cougars pulled away at the free-throw line, going 7 of 8 from the charity strip in the final quarter, with Mason Hamilton hitting all six of his attempts.

“Another slow start hurt us,” Bulldogs coach Tom Wamsley said. “The kids played great defense in the second and third quarters but we just could not find a consistent spark on offense as we had the lead down to six several times.

“East Hardy is an experienced tournament team and it showed in the fourth quarter when they held the ball and forced us to gamble and foul.” 

Jordan Teets led the winners with 15 points, followed by Gideon Good with 14, Mason Hamilton with 12 and Evan Hamilton’s 10.

Alex Scott had eight points for Tygarts Valley, which ended the season 13-10 — navigating the fourth toughest schedule in the Class A ranks.

“We say goodbye to four great seniors in Kaden Moore, Avery Row-Sponaugle, Kendall Armstrong and Ian Harris,” Wamsley added.

East Hardy (19-5) will be the third seed in the state tournament, facing No. 6 Clay-Battelle at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 20, in the quarterfinals.

Tucker County, meanwhile, is the second seed after defeating Pendleton County, 82-37, in Wednesday’s other Region II final.

The Mountain Lions (19-2) battle No. 7 Magnolia at 1 p.m. next Thursday, while the other quarterfinal matchups include No. 1 Tug Valley vs. No. 8 Montcalm at 5:30 p.m. and No. 4 Greater Beckley Christian vs. Huntington St. Joseph’s at 9 p.m.

Tygarts Valley (13-10)

Parker Bell 3 0-0 6, Ian Harris 1 0-0 3, Avery Row-Sponaugle 2 1-2 5, Kendall Armstrong 2 0-0 4, Alex Scott 3 0-0 8, Jacob Wamsley 2 0-0 4, Kaden Moore 1 1-2 4. Totals 14 2-4 34

East Hardy (19-5)

Evan Hamilton 4 1-1 10, Mason Hamilton 2 6-6 12, Jordan Teets 6 1-2 15, Joseph Price 1 0-0 2, Gideon Good 5 4-6 14. Totals 18 12-15 53

Tygarts Valley 5 11 16 2 — 34

East Hardy 19 5 18 11 — 53

3-point goals: TV 4 (Scott 2, Harris and Moore), EH 5 (M. Hamilton and Teets 2 and E. Hamilton)