CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Winfield has hung its hat on defense for much of the 2025-26 season.
That formula worked again for the Class AAA No. 4 Generals in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal against No. 5 Ripley.
The Vikings were limited to seven first-half field goals and 13 for the game, while the Generals gradually pulled away in the second half of a 46-33 victory at the Charleston Coliseum.
“You have to want to. That’s the No. 1 thing,” WHS coach Travis Tarr said. “You have to want it to be hard. We wear shirts that say nothing easy. The principals we teach, we scramble really good. Stay in your stance and do the basics. These guys do the simplicity stuff and the basics really well and we’re urgent. It’s the reason we win.”
It certainly was the defining factor in the third matchup this season between the Generals (22-3) and Vikings.
While Ripley (20-5) was equally stout defensively for the first two quarters, the Vikings struggled to generate offense throughout and trailed 10-9 after one quarter and 21-19 at halftime, though the Vikings concluded the second quarter on an 8-0 spurt that featured three-pointers from both Blake Justice and Kyler Doss along with a driving layup from Justice.
Those were three of the Vikings’ seven buckets on 26 attempts through two periods, and things hardly got easier after the intermission.
“We were nervous at the start of the first half,” Ripley coach Derek Mullins said. “We didn’t play the style we played all year long to get to this point. Shots weren’t falling and we tuned it over uncharacteristically.”
Instead, Winfield quickly went up seven in the second half as Brody Ilederton scored from close range and Owen Miller followed with a triple.
MetroNews broadcast interview with Winfield’s Travis Tarr on their 46-33 win over Ripley in the Class AAA Quarterfinals: #wvprepbb pic.twitter.com/4oGpO0adBx
— Joe Brocato (@joebrowvm) March 19, 2026
It was a sign of things to come in that quarter for the Generals as they made 7-of-15 shots, including four from Taylor, who scored 11 points with three treys in the third. Taylor’s third triple of the period made it 36-28, and teammate Owen Jones scored inside just before time expired to make it 38-28 for the first double-digit margin of the matchup.
“Coach always has me start the second half,” said Taylor, a reserve to start games. “We’re a third-quarter team. I tried my best to get us going and did pretty well with that today.”
Ripley got the deficit inside 10 only once in the fourth — when Justice scored on a scoop shot that cut the Vikings’ deficit to 40-32 with 5:11 remaining.
But that proved to be the last RHS field goal as the Generals continued to smother the Vikings, who did not score again until Braedon Holley made one free throw with 12 seconds to play.
The victory was especially emotional for Winfield, which played Ty Laughery 2 minutes as he continued his fight with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“We knew he was going to get to experience that moment with their buddies if they did their job — and they did their job,” Tarr said.
“He gets on a plane tomorrow morning to fly to Cincinnati to have chemotherapy at 7:30.”
Taylor led all players with 29 points and was his team’s lone double-figure scorer. He scored 15 after halftime.
“I give him a leash probably bigger than anybody that’s coached a player,” Tarr said. “I trust him. Owen understands if there’s one I don’t like and that registers with him.”
Justice led Ripley with 10 points.
The Vikings shot 13 for 43.
“For being a young team,” Mullins said, “they play a really physical brand of man-to-man defense.”
Winfield will face top seed Chapmanville in a semifinal.