Bill Lusk | WVOW Sports
CHARLESTON Will the third time be the charm Tuesday evening for the Logan Wildcats when they take to the floor at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center for their Class AA quarterfinals matchup with the Wyoming East Warriors?
Fifth-seeded Logan (14-9), who lost six of seven games to close the regular season, will open its 2025 WVSSAC Boys Basketball State tournament run against fourth-seeded Wyoming East (18-3), who has won nine straight games, in the final game of the Class AA quarterfinals on Tuesday at 9:00 p.m.
Wyoming East defeated Summers County (78-57) and Bluefield (52-40) to capture the Region III co-championship and punch its first ticket to the state since 2022.
The Warriors will be making their 12th appearance in school history, but have not advanced past the quarterfinals since defeating Robert C. Byrd, 51-48, in 2016.
Logan is making its 40th appearance in school history and has qualified for the state tournament in back-to-back years for the first time since going to three straight Class AAA tournaments from 2010-2012.
Logan defeated reigning Class AA champion Charleston Catholic, 54-39, in one of two Class AA Region IV co-finals and will be looking for its first state tournament win in 15 years.
The last time the Wildcats were victorious on the floor of the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center was 2010 when they defeated Wheeling Park, 63-48, win the Class AAA championship.
Tuesday evening’s matchup will be the third meeting between the Warriors and Wildcats this season, with Wyoming East winning both regular season matchups.
The Warriors won the first meeting in New Richmond. Despite leading by eight after one quarter and trailing after three quarters, the Warriors outscored the Wildcats 15-5 in the fourth quarter for a 59-51 win on January 14.
Konnor Fox and Broc Johnson each had 15 points to lead the Warriors and Matt Hatfield had 15 and Zayden Sherod 11 for Logan in the two schools first meeting.
In the second meeting in Logan, the Wildcats jumped out to a 13-point first half lead, however, the Warriors closed the half on an 8-0 run to draw within five points at halftime.
The two teams went back and forth in the second half with Wyoming East clinging to a three-point lead before Lucas Lambert evened the score at 63 with 0:20 to play. On the ensuing inbound Johnson went coast to coast and scored with 0:09 remaining to give the Warriors a season sweep over the Wildcats, winning 65-63 at the Willie Akers Arena on March 1.
It is also the third matchup in the state tournament between Wyoming East and Logan with the Warriors holding a 2-0 advantage in those games.
Wyoming East defeated Logan, 61-49, in the 2007 Class AA championship and again the following season, this time defeating the Wildcats, 82-61, in the 2008 Class AA semifinals.
All nine of Logan’s regular season losses have come at the hands of schools competing in the state tournament this season. In addition to the two defeats at the hands of Wyoming East, Logan has lost twice to Class A No. 1 Tug Valley and once to Class AAA No. 2 Shady Spring and No. 5 Chapmanville and once more to Class AA No. 1 Williamstown, No. 2 Wheeling Central and No. 3 Westside.
The winner will meet either top seed Williamstown or eighth-seeded Buffalo in the second of two Class AA semifinals on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.