CHARLESTON, W. Va. (WOWK) – The WVSSAC Boys Basketball Tournament tipped off at the Charleston Coliseum on Tuesday, and one school had a great moment that they will remember for a very long time.

The Wayne Pioneers were playing in the state tournament for the first time in their school’s history, and backed up their appearance with a dominant 72-48 win over the Doddridge County Bulldogs. Landon Preece poured in 29 points for Wayne to lead them to victory, the Pioneers will hope to make their first ever state championship, but they’ll have to go through the Wheeling Central Maroon Knights on Friday at 1 p.m.

In Class A action, the Tug Valley Panthers rallied in the second and third quarters to take down Ritchie County 67-61. The Panthers trailed the Rebels 17-5 after the first quarter, but Braydun Ferris scored 30 points to send Tug Valley to the semifinals.

In the 9:30 game, Tucker County held off a late rally to defeat Huntington St. Joseph 59-57. Tucker County will face Tug Valley in the Class A semifinals on Thursday, for a rematch of the last two Class A championships.

The other Class A semifinal will be held on Thursday at 7:15 p.m., between Greater Beckley Christian and East Hardy. Greater Beckley Christian survived a scare from Webster County 52-46, and East Hardy took down Parkersburg Catholic 63-49.

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