Doddridge County’s Jerod Trent (11) drives with the ball during Tuesday’s Class AA state quarterfinal game against Wayne in Charleston. (Photo by Heather Belcher)

CHARLESTON — The Wayne Pioneers of head coach Sean Meddings made a big splash here Tuesday inside the Charleston Coliseum during the program’s first trip to the state basketball tournament.

Sophomore Landon Preece poured in 29 points on 11 of 13 shooting as No. 5 Wayne never trailed during a 72-48 Class AA state quarterfinal upset of No. 4 Doddridge County.

The Little Kanawha Conference champion Bulldogs (19-5) of head coach Paul Burnside shot 30.6% (19 of 62) as Preece, who had 10 rebounds and two blocks, went for 20 first-half points.

Wayne, which led 13-10 after one and 16-14 early in the second before going on a pivotal 12-0 spurt to help forge a 37-18 halftime advantage, improved to 16-9 and advanced to Friday’s semifinal against the Frankfort and Wheeling Central victor.

Heston Hayes led the Bulldogs with 12 points. Isaac Johnson joined Will Adams, who had four rebounds, with seven counters. Malachi Kelley chipped in six points, Blake Mitchell had five with three caroms and Jaden Solomon went for five points, three boards and two blocks.

Ritchie County’s Isaac Hodges (14) goes up to grab a rebound against Tug Valley during Tuesday’s Class A state quarterfinals in Charleston. (Photo by Heather Belcher)

Colton Heck added 21 points, five assists and four boards for Wayne, which got a game-high 12 caroms from Kaiden Hayton along with 10 points and five boards by Colton Preece as well as nine markers and a game-high seven dimes from Carter Ross.

The Pioneers, who had two bench points to the Bulldogs’ 29 while holding a slight 43-42 rebounding advantage, shot nearly 52% (15 of 29) in the first half and finished 30 of 63 (47.6%).

Tug Valley 67, Ritchie County 61

No. 7 Ritchie County had the first chance to dethrone two-time defending Class A state champion and No. 2 seed Tug Valley during a Tuesday quarterfinal at the Charleston Coliseum.

Rebel senior Isaac Hodges, the Ellenboro-based school’s all-time leader in points and rebounds, went for game-highs of 32 counters and 16 caroms, but it wasn’t enough as the Panthers turned 23 RCHS turnovers into 30 points to secure a 67-61 triumph.

Ritchie County, which was making its second straight trip to state and finished 17-7 for head coach Kenny Church, held a commanding 36-21 edge on the glass while shooting 54.3% (25 of 46) compared to Tug Valley connecting on half of its 58 field goals.

Things couldn’t have started any better for the upset bid as the Rebels, who had won seven straight, bolted out to a 17-5 lead after the opening quarter.

However, the Panthers (19-5) turned it up a notch defensively and got 16 of Braydun Ferris’ team-high 30 markers in the second to help take a 32-28 halftime lead.

Tug Valley, which had its largest advantage at 67-51 with 4:12 remaining, outscored the Rebels 18-10 in the third to forge ahead 50-38.

Seth Cronin added 18 points for the Rebels, who got six points from Turner Shriver, five by Jenner Keen along with three assists and four steals from Carter Satterfield.

In an affair where neither program scored a bench point, the defending state champs also received 17 points from Zade Rush while Cameron Slone and Carson Newsome tallied nine apiece. Ferris also had game-highs of six steals and five assists.

East Hardy 61, Parkersburg Catholic 49

CHARLESTON – No. 4 East Hardy scored 14 unanswered during a key run in the third quarter to help hand fifth-seeded Parkersburg Catholic a 61-49 loss here late Tuesday night inside the Charleston Coliseum in a Class A state quarterfinal.

The Crusaders of third-year head coach Jim McLean, who finished 21-4 and were denied a sixth straight win, couldn’t overcome 19 turnovers that led to 26 points for the now 21-4 Cougars.

East Hardy, winners of 16 straight, were led by 6-foot-8 junior Gideon Good. Despite playing 19 minutes and fouling out, Good had game-highs of 24 points and 12 rebounds. Mason Hamilton, who left the game late with a knee injury, had 15 points and six rebounds while brother Evan Hamilton added seven points and a game-high six steals.

Luke Anderson led the way for the Little Kanawha Conference runner-up Crusaders by going for 15 points, five rebounds and a game-high three blocked shots. Preston Randolph scored a baker’s dozen, grabbed a team-high six boards, joined Anderson with a pair steals and had a game-high three assists.

Randolph accounted for the first points of the game with a lay-in, but East Hardy led 13-8 after one as the Crusaders had seven turnovers and went 2 of 7 from the field.

Trailing 19-8 early in the second after Mason Hamilton drained a 3, Randolph followed with a three-point play as Good went to the bench with his third foul at the 6:04 mark. Buckets by Anderson and Randolph along with a triple off the bench from Zane Kirk drew the Crusaders within four at 23-19. They trailed 23-20 at the break after Randolph added a foul shot.

Anderson opened the third with a trifecta and Leonardo DeAngelo’s layup put the Crusaders ahead 25-23. PCHS took its last lead at 27-25 when Carter Nelson assisted on a Branson Lott layup, but Good responded inside and Evan Hamilton then hit a 3, and had a steal and a lay-in to make 32-27. After Good followed with two foul shots, he had two more putbacks, including an and-1 to cap the 14-0 spurt, which was finally halted by a Randolph basket.

Parkersburg Catholic trimmed the deficit to 43-34 entering the fourth when Anderson picked up a loose ball and knocked down a triple just before the buzzer.

Anderson’s lay-in cut it to 43-36 to open the fourth, but the Crusaders never got any closer than seven the rest of the way and that came at 45-38 with 6:20 remaining following a putback by DeAngelo, who had five rebounds.

Lott finished with eight points, five caroms, a block and a steal while Kirk had six markers.

EHHS, which won its third all-time state tournament game in six trips and faces No. 1 Greater Beckley Christian at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, also got nine markers from Trevor Roof.

It was Parkersburg Catholic’s first trip to Charleston since finishing state runner-up in 2019 to undefeated Webster County. The Crusaders were 0-20 the year before McLean’s arrival.

Greater Beckley Christian 52, Webster County 46

Top-seeded Greater Beckley Christian extended its winning streak to 14 games following Tuesday evening’s 52-46 Class A state quarterfinal victory against eighth-seeded Webster County here at the Charleston Coliseum.

The Crusaders, who improved to 21-2, had won the two regular season meetings by an average of 22 points, but were unable to shake the Highlanders of second-year head coach Brett Morris.

Webster County jumped out to a 9-3 lead, but Greater Beckley responded with an 11-0 spurt as the Highlanders used a Ryder Wright layup to only trail 14-11 after one.

Sitting 22-all at the break, the Crusaders pushed ahead 36-35 entering the fourth as the two teams combined for eight ties and nine lead changes through three periods.

Although an Isaiah Cutlip 3 tied it for the final time at 38 early in the fourth, Jabari Spencer’s pull-up jumper put GBC in front to stay.

Javonte Spencer had 10 of his game-high 23 points in the opening stanza. Iziah Gordon added 17 points and tied teammate Keelan Remy for game-high rebounding honors with seven. Jabari Spencer chipped in eight points and a game-high three steals for the victors.

Webster County, which finished 14-11 and had to upset Sherman in the regional co-final, was led by Wright’s 16 points. Joston Lewis scored a baker’s dozen, Cutlip had nine while Kasey Farmer had five points and joined Spencer Baird with five rebounds.