Wahama’s Bryce Zuspan (3) drives the lane against St. Joe’s Isaiah Sanders (23) in the Class A, Region IV, Section 2 boys basketball tournament final on March 3 at Cabell Midland High School.
Tug Valley's Bryson Elia is congratulated by assistant coach Curt Fletcher after he scored 10 points during the Panthers 77-34 win over St. Joe in the Region IV Co-Final on Thursday, March 9 in Naugatuck.
Wahama’s Bryce Zuspan (3) drives the lane against St. Joe’s Isaiah Sanders (23) in the Class A, Region IV, Section 2 boys basketball tournament final on March 3 at Cabell Midland High School.
Tug Valley's Bryson Elia is congratulated by assistant coach Curt Fletcher after he scored 10 points during the Panthers 77-34 win over St. Joe in the Region IV Co-Final on Thursday, March 9 in Naugatuck.
The Cincinnati Reds had just hired unknown manager Sparky Anderson, Joe Namath and the New York Jets were fresh off an upset of the Baltimore Colts in the Super Bowl and the New York Knicks were on their way to an NBA title.
The year was 1970, the last time Wahama’s boys basketball team reached the state tournament. That changes at 7:15 p.m. Wednesday when the seventh-seeded White Falcons (17-8) play second-seeded Tug Valley (22-3) in a Class A quarterfinal.
Wahama enters as one of the hotter teams in any class, having won nine in a row and 12 of 13.
It has come a considerable distance since a season-opening 75-56 loss at Wayne.
“It’s been awesome,” White Falcons coach Billy Zuspan said. “I was the junior high coach for a while, so I had these boys and we were real successful, but it’s been a blessing to have them here in this run.”
The White Falcons’ improvement has been dramatic, as evidenced by their 80-51 triumph over Wayne in the rematch on Jan. 7. The run has been fueled by an offense that averages 67.6 points per game. Sawyer VanMatre leads the White Falcons in scoring at 16.8 points a game. Josiah Lloyd averages 14.9 points and scored 35 in a 78-40 victory over Tolsia in a Region IV co-final.
A four-time state champion in baseball, two-time winner in softball and one-time titleist in football, Wahama hopes to establish itself as a basketball power. It faces a strong challenger in Tug Valley, which scores 72.8 points a game and has won every game it has played against Class A foes this season, losing only to Class AAAA Spring Valley and twice to Class AAA Logan.
The Panthers have won 18 consecutive games, 17 of them by 10 or more points. Joey Gollihue scores a team-best 17.1 points per game. Parker Davis averages 16.9 and Ashton Davis 16.2.
The Wahama-Tug Valley winner advances to the semifinals at 9:30 a.m. Friday versus the victor from No. 3 Tucker County (19-4) and No. 6 East Hardy (18-7).
Tim Stephens is a sports writer with The Herald-Dispatch.
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