Fort Gay, W. Va. –. In front of a big crowd #2 seed Tolsia ( 15-8 ) opened up post-season play with a 58-45 victory over #3 seed Sherman ( 12-11 ) on Wednesday at Rebel Arena.
#10 Bradee Vance was surprised at halftime of the Rebels victory over Sherman by the Make-A-Wish foundation. Vance has been battling an illness since the seventh grade. He will be in attendance for the UNC at Duke game next Saturday. The story will be featured on ESPN this summer.
Tolsia trailed 43-36 with just over five minutes left in the game before going on a 20-2 run capped off by a three pointer from Senior Bradee Vance.
Parker Watts tries to get by #24 Trey Lester of Sherman on Wednesday.
Parker Watts had 9 points in the fourth quarter and led the Rebels with 20 points, Robert Evans tallied 13 points including 9 in the final period, Evan Ball added 7 points, CJ Waller netted 6 points, Dakota Blackburn had 5 points, Bradee Vance had 3 points, Bryson Muncy and Josh Hofmeister chipped in with 2 points each.
Robert Evans beats the Sherman defense for a basket in the first half.
Tolsia hit 5 three pointers and went 3 off 7 from the free throw line.
Sherman was led by Logan Baldwin who hit 6 three pointers and finished with 18 points, Bryce Mills had 11 points, Trey Lester 8 points, Andrew Simpson 7 points and Luke Tagliente had 2 points.
The Tide hit 8 three pointers and went 3 for 3 from the free throw line.
SHS 20 4 11 10 = 45
THS 8 11 13 26 = 58
Evan Ball calls out a play in the first half versus Sherman.
The Rebels will travel to #1 seed Tug Valley Friday at 7:00 to play for the Region 4 Section 1 title.
Tolsia Head Coach Brian Stacy
COACH’S COMMENTS
“… Great comeback win for our program, with about five minutes left I looked and coach Muncy and said what are you thinking and he said coach we are fine and the next thing you know we go on a huge run and Bradee put the icing on the cake at the end. In the fourth quarter I thought Parker and Robert were both really good and our guys never quit. We trailed most of the night other then one tie and when we would get close they would extend the lead right back out. So proud of our guys not quitting and gutting out the win.”
“… I thought our young guys really grew up tonight. We have had some games this season where we couldn’t handle adversity and tonight we really showed some resilience and kept battling throughout. Dakota Blackburn, CJ Waller and Evan Ball all hit big shots down the stretch. Our defense was better tonight and really got up in them and forced them into stuff that they don’t normally do. Robert was all over #5 Simpson who is cat quick. That fourth quarter stretch we had two freshman, two sophomores and a junior on the floor. Not taking anything away from Josh and Bryson who both gave us good minutes.”
“… Great atmosphere tonight at Rebel Arena. ESPN being there and then honoring Bradee was a surreal moment for everyone involved. He deserves everything that he gets. Awesome kid and for him to hit a three and his teammates go crazy is what it’s all about.”
“…, Will have a tough one when we go to Naugatuck but I think our guys are up to the challenge. I think we are peaking at the right time. They are very good and have all the pieces to make a run at the state tournament but we are going to lace them up and see what we can do. Hopefully the Rebel fans we show up on Friday and give us that extra boost.”
