CHARLESTON, W.Va. — No. 2 Poca exploded for 73-percent shooting in the second half to pull away from No. 7 Fairmont Senior 55-40 in the Class AA quarterfinals on Wednesday.
“I thought (Fairmont Senior) guarded us well in the first half,” Poca coach Allen Osborne said. “In the second half we were able to get some easy buckets, and were able to get some good shoots.”
The Dots turned a three-point halftime lead into a 22-point margin in the fourth quarter before the Polar Bears used a late run in garbage time.
Poca (25-1) was led by freshman Luke Frampton’s game-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He also grabbed nine rebounds.
“We were very happy with Luke’s play today as a freshman,” Osborne said. “I thought in the third quarter he was very assertive, and took care of the ball and hit some big shots.”
So much for the presumption of freshman nerves for a kid playing his first state tournament game.
“I wasn’t really nervous, no,” Frampton said. “Playing with these guys all year you get used to it.”
Elijah Cuffee chipped in 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Noah Frampton finished with 10. The Dots finished 55 percent from the field and had 16 assists among their 22 field goals.
“These guys share the ball well, so they don’t worry about scoring,” Osborne said. “The most shots a guy averages taking on our team is 10. They just want to win.”
Fairmont Senior (15-10) was led by Jacob Casalinuova, whose nine points all came from 3-point range. Tavon Horton finished with seven points, six points below his average.
Darhius Nunn, who came in averaging 12 per game, finished with five points to go along with seven assists.
“We were pleased with how we started the game,” Fairmont Senior coach David Retton said. “Things we thought we could defensively we did. Then they got heated up in the second half and we didn’t have an answer.”
Said Nunn: “They were playing good team defense. Anytime you would get past, they were all there. We stopped moving and started standing and that’s what hurt us at the end.
The combination of Nunn and Horton—who came in averaging 24 per game—were held to just 12 on a combined 3-for-23 shooting. The Polar Bears as they finished shooting just 27 percent from the field overall, including just 4-of-23 from 3-point range.
“We couldn’t get anything generated on offense,” Retton said. “That put a lot of pressure on us defensively. Because what we weren’t doing offensively we had to make up for on the defensive side, and we weren’t doing that.”
The Dots advanced to play Bluefield in the Class AA semifinals on Friday at 9:30 a.m.