Bluefield Daily Telegraph, Bluefield, WV

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  • Flying high... Bluefield’s Craig Ponder, right, goes up against a Wyoming East defender during their West Virginia Region III co-final Thursday night. Contributed photo by Marcus Constantino

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March 12, 2010

Ponder scores 56 in Bluefield loss

By JIM WORKMAN for the Daily Telegraph

NEW RICHMOND — Three our of four wouldn’t be too bad.

At least that’s the thought of Wyoming East fans.

The No. 1 ranked Warriors will be gunning for their third Class AA state championship in four seasons as they earned another trip to Charleston next week by slipping by No. 9 ranked Bluefield 85-83 in a Class AA Region 3 co-final.

Wyoming East improved to 20-2. Bluefield ends its season at 16-8.

Seedings and the tournament schedule are expected to be announced by the WVSSAC later today.

Wyoming East won titles in 2007 and 2008 and finished as runners-up in 2009.

A running shot in the lane by Chase Morgan with five seconds left and a steal by Evan Muscari on the ensuing inbound pass sealed the victory away.

But that series of events couldn’t overshadow the performance of Bluefield guard Craig Ponder, who poured in 56 points for the Beavers — 23 coming in the fourth quarter as Bluefield erased a 13-point deficit that Wyoming East held heading into the final period.

“They hit us with a steady dose of Ponder,” said Wyoming East coach Rory Chapman. “That was the best high school performance I’ve ever seen. And he did it against our defense, that shows how special he is.”

“He is one of the best players I’ve ever played against,” Morgan said of Ponder. “We went after each other all night. It was a back and forth game.”

The Warriors held off the onslaught. It was an accomplishment that will serve the Warriors well in the coming games, said Morgan.

“I’m predicting that we can win (a state championship), but we have to play all four quarters like we did tonight,” he said. “It’s a great feeling to being going up there (to Charleston).”

Morgan led Wyoming East with 32 points. Alex Webb tallied 16 points. Evan Muscari contributed 15 and Andrew Bishop added 11 for the Warriors.

Region 3 featured the No. 1, 2, 3 and 9 ranked teams in the state.

Top ranked Wyoming East and No. 2 Oak Hill each won co-finals on Thursday. The Red Devils defeated No. 3 PikeView 59-49.

“We knew going in that we had the toughest region,” said Chapman. “I’m just happy to get out of here with a win. It’s tough. I feel very lucky.”

The contest had the atmosphere of a state title game, with a packed gym and deafening noise coming from the fans from both sides.

“It’s an unbelievable home court advantage,” said Chapman.

Interestingly, the two-point victory could also be accounted for by Morgan’s shooting accuracy - which was displayed in place of the usual opening tip off. 

In pre-game warm-ups, officials whistled Bluefield with a technical foul because one of its players allegedly dunked in a lay-up drill. 

So the game began with Morgan on the free throw line shooting a pair of free throws.

He hit them both to give Wyoming East a 2-0 lead.

Fittingly, the junior guard began and ended the contest.

“Chase has been unbelievable,” Chapman said. “He’s a scorer that gets to the basket. And he brings us a tremendous amount of energy.”

Email:

jworkman@register-herald.com



BLUEFIELD (16-8)

Craig Ponder 20 10-13 56, Courtney Wallace 0 0-2 0, Damien Price 2 4-4 8, Kyle Harris 1 2-2 4, Joe Woodrum 2 0-1 4, Byron Steptoe 2 1-2 7, Leo Gimenez 2 0-0 4. Totals: 29 17-24 83.

WYOMING EAST (20-2)

Chase Morgan 10 5-7 32, Trey Fralin 1 0-1 2, Evan Muscari 6 0-1 15, Luke Campbell 1 0-0 2, Alex Webb 6 1-2 16, Marcus Schofield 1 3-4 5, Andrew Bishop 2 7-7 11, Zach Foley 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 16-22 85.

Bluefield............12   24   11   35  —  83

Wyoming East...18   18   24   25  —  85

Three-point goals: B: 8 (Ponder 6, Steptoe 2); W: 11 (Morgan 5, Webb 3, Muscari 3); Fouled out: WE: Fralin, Schofield.

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