HAMBLETON, W.Va. — Union played with Class A No. 1 Tucker County for nearly four quarters, but the Mountain Lions pulled away to win 62-40 Monday and advance to the Class A, Region II, Section 1 championship.
Tucker (19-3) will take on No. 2 East Hardy (18-2) in the section title game Thursday at Keyser High School. The Cougars defeated Paw Paw, 97-60, in the other semifinal Monday.
Union finishes with a 9-13 record.
Tucker County led 23-10 after the first quarter, but Union won the second quarter 12-7 to trail 30-22 at the half.
The Mountain Lions enforced their will inside to pull away at the end of the third to enter the fourth with a 46-31 lead, and they outscored Union, 16-9, in the decider to advance.
Ethan Rosenau led Tucker with a game-high 22 points, and Owen Knotts, Garrett Wilfong and Trevon Bonner also finished in double figures with 12, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Union’s Braylon Ward garnered 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, Erik Linksweiler added 10 points, and Jacob Haines chipped in eight.
No. 2 East Hardy 97, Paw Paw 60
BAKER, W.Va. — East Hardy scored 35 points in the first quarter and finished with 16 3-pointers to rout Paw Paw on Monday.
The Cougars led 35-10 after the first quarter. Jordan Teets scored 11 of his 14 points in the first, including three 3-pointers and Gideon Good tallied eight of his 17 in the period.
Nate Smith led all scorers with 24 points — making six 3-pointers — and JW Teets and Evan Hamilton chipped in 12 points each. Jordan Teets made four treys.
Donovan Tanouye tallied 23 points, nine assists and six rebounds to pace Paw Paw, Greyson Corbett recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Taylor Carder added nine points.