Minutemen Head to States

Varsity Basketball Claims Region II Title

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For the first time in 35 years, the LCHS Boys’ Basketball team is headed to the WV State Basketball Tournament in Charleston March 14.

The Minutemen captured the Region II title by defeating Bridgeport 53-36.  They were paced by Kyle Gannon who had 20.  In the first quarter, the Minutemen fell behind early 6-11, but timely shots brought them to a two-point lead going into the half.

The Minutemen forced turn-overs and defended Bridgeport’s offense to widen the gap.  The Indians shooting was kept under 50 percent throughout the game.

Fans filled BHS’s gym starting at 6, by 6:30, few seats were left on the visitor’s side.  The team brought another pep bus and student fans remained standing and cheering until the end.

The Minutemen played Bridgeport tight all year narrowly losing to the Indians at home, and losing in a regular season nail-biter losing 62-64.

The Minutemen are paced by a host of contributors including Captains Shawn Moran, Caden Rohrbough and Luke White.  They also have solid contributions from Juniors Kyle Gannon, Asa Post and Jacob Heater.  Three-point marksman Bradley Smith, senior, also helped with the LCHS scoring.

Rounding out the Minutemen are Adin Post, Nic Kuhn, Jacob Carder, Jaycob Smith, Vincent Snuffer, Ben Jerden, Adam Watson and Will Hunt.

The Minutemen are coached by Charles Simms, Bill Linger and Joe Nichols.

The 11-15 squad was paced with winning 4/5 last ball games including three in the post season.

The winning streak started on Senior Night with Shawn Moran’s now-famous buzzer beater against Buckhannon Upshur.

BU took the lead with less than ten ticks on the clock.

With 2.3 seconds left, a BU fan threw a tennis ball across the court while some BU fans thought time had expired and fled onto the court.  After the clock was re-set, a BU fan became stuck in the stands which halted the game even further.

Senior Luke White inbounded the ball two times to move the ball down the court. Shawn Moran called time-out with 1.7 seconds left which put the Minutemen in scoring territory inside half court.  White got the ball down the baseline to Moran who shot the ball beating the buzzer for the 3 and the win.

This set the Minutemen up for a Sectional Contest against Clay at home.  The Minutemen handedly defeated Clay which put them into the semi finals on the road at Herbert Hoover.

The Minutemen saw only scoring ten points in the first half while Hoover had 20. They rallied for the win, holding Hoover to just five points in the second half and winning 38-25.

They then fell on the road to Nicholas County, losing by 4 which paired them against Bridgeport for the Regional Finals.

The Minutemen will face Fairmont Senior March 14 at 1 p.m. at the WV State AA Basketball Tournament.

The Minutemen have a strong backing, taking four buses of fans to the event.