FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Slow starts have been problematic for East Fairmont over the opening month of the regular season.
As Bees’ head coach Carter DeVault works to rectify the issue, his team was plenty good enough over the final three frames of Monday’s home matchup with Elkins to pull away for a 66-45 victory.
Leading 26-22 at halftime, East Fairmont (4-2) played at a higher level on both ends throughout much of the third quarter, which began with the home team scoring five straight points on a three-pointer from Austin Taylor and River McClain’s layup.
“We started to play with more effort and grit,” DeVault said. “It’s been something we’ve lacked a bit and we’ve tried to focus on playing with more fire defensively and more toughness. Once we got into a rhythm, we started to do that better.”
Hudson Brand’s contested layup at the 6-minute mark of the third allowed the Bees to lead 35-25 for the first double-digit margin of the matchup. It was still a 10-point game at 38-28 after Elkins (0-5) got a bucket in the post from Landon Shreve, but EFHS responded with six straight points, utilizing a Jaxon Conaway layup, three points from Cayden Cooper and one free throw from Tony Comas to go on top by 16.
The Tigers’ deficit remained there through three frames at 49-33.
“We used our defense to help get good looks and when we saw the ball go in, the energy got even better,” DeVault said. “They’re kids, and when good things happen on one end, it helps at the other end.”
East Fairmont executes on an inbound play and River McClain finds Larry Nichols for a basket in the third quarter of a 66-45 win against Elkins.#wvprepbb pic.twitter.com/neQ1zQyAF4
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) January 6, 2026
Taylor’s triple with 5:40 to play upped the Bees’ advantage to 20 for the first time at 56-36, and they were hardly threatened the rest of the way.
Guard Isaiah Nutter helped Elkins get off to a strong start as he scored seven early points to stake his team to a 9-3 lead. Nutter scored nine of his 11 points in the opening period, which the Tigers finished with a 13-10 lead.
“He’s a nice player,” DeVault said of Nutter. “He’s quick and they run a lot of good actions for him. We started communicating better as the game went and helping Hudson get through screens or switching out on it. Right now, we’re struggling to come out of the gate. It’s been five games in a row we’ve been lackadaisical out of the gate and can’t make shots early and we can’t make shots early and it bothers us on the other end and we get a little down on ourselves. We have to find a way to come out more aggressive and with more poise to start games.”
EHS still lead by three following Nutter’s two free throws in the second quarter, but the Bees outscored the Tigers 12-5 over the remainder of the half starting with Cayden Cooper’s tying trey.
East Fairmont settled for a 26-22 halftime lead after both teams consistently got to the free-throw line over the first two quarters (Elkins 9 for 16, East Fairmont 7 for 12).
The Bees were much more efficient offensively in the second half, when they shot 16 for 33 from the field after making 8-of-27 shots through two quarters.
Cooper and McClain tied for team-high scoring honors with 15 points apiece. Cooper also had a team-high nine rebounds to help the Bees win the board battle, 41-33.
Eleven East Fairmont players scored.
Shreve was a force in defeat with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Dreyton Boggs scored 11 in the loss.
The Tigers didn’t help their cause from the charity stripe by making 16-of-33 foul shots.
“In the first half, we played with great effort and great energy,” Elkins head coach Amrit Rayfield said. “It was overcoming some of those things like the free-throw line and missed layups and we just kept battling. We’re a little immature from an experience standpoint, and eventually, they allowed the missed free throws and layups to affect the effort and energy, and East got whatever they wanted.”