CHARMCO, W.Va. — There was a postseason preview Tuesday night at Greenbrier West.
The Cavaliers, ranked seventh in the state in the latest Class A poll, got double-double performances from Lawson Vaughan, Chase McClung and Kaiden Pack, dodged early foul trouble and pulled away for an 87-60 boys basketball victory over Richwood.
Earlier in the day when the WVSSAC Group A, Region III seedings were released, West and the Lumberjacks were paired in a first-round match-up next Tuesday, April 20, in Charmco.
The Cavaliers toned down their full-court pressure to not show their hand for next week’s win-or-go-home sectional game.
“They’re going to have film on us, but I still think it’s harder to prepare for it if you haven’t seen it on the court,” said West head coach Jared Robertson. “We’re going to zone press, we’re going to 2-2-1, we’re going to 1-2-2, we’ll half-court trap — we didn’t half-court trap at all tonight. We’ll mix our defenses a lot compared to what we did tonight.”
Playing man-to-man defense the Cavaliers were pushed by the Lumberjacks for a quarter and a half, but pulled away with a 16-3 run that ended the first half.
Foul trouble and some shaky shot selection kept things close early.
“We have three guards that can all run the point for us and do a lot of things,” said Robertson, referencing Pack, Chase Boggs and Brandon Oscar. “And all three of them were sitting over here with me (due to foul trouble). But I thought our bench did a great job and then we got our guys back in and took control of the game.”
The Cavaliers also took their attack inside.
“We shoot too many threes a lot of games and this was one of them,” Robertson added. “We have some kids that can make threes, but we don’t need to shoot that many.”
West was 8-for-25 from behind the arc.
Vaughan had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cavalier attack, McClung added 15 points and 13 boards, while Pack had 11 points, 11 rebounds and a number of pinpoint assists.
McClung scored eight of his 15 in the opening quarter, keeping the Cavs close.
“The hardest working kid we have,” Robertson offered on McClung. “If he ever starts shooting the ball well, watch out. He started finishing plays tonight which is good. When you have a kid that’s probably 5-foot-11 and he leads your team in rebounds, that tells you something. I love that kid, I love how he plays.”
Leading 38-26 at the half, the hosts pulled away early in the third behind Pack. The senior found Boggs for a three, converted inside and assisted on a Vaughan score and another from Boggs in just over two minutes.
Boggs was the fourth Cavalier in double figures with 13 points.
Brayden Spencer led Richwood (5-9) with 17 points, Camden Lawrence added 14 and Cooper Donahue scored 13.
West, now 8-6 and winners of three straight, will finish their regular season on Friday night, hosting Midland Trail, and begin sectional play against the Lumberjacks on Tuesday.
Webster County is the No. 1 seed in Section 2 and will host Meadow Bridge on Tuesday in the other semifinal.
The sectional final is set for Thursday at the highest remaining seed.
Saturday night, West beat South Harrison High School, 73-63, to win the West Virginia Hometown Invitational Tournament.
Pack had a big 29-point game for the winners and was named to the all-tournament team.
Boggs, another all-tourney performer, added 11 points, while Oscar added 10.
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