Sunday, February 26, 2017

Hunter Given: "Stick-to-it-tiveness"

Quietly, and without much fanfare, former Webster County athletic standout Hunter Given was recognized on Senior Night before the Glenville State College Pioneer basketball game against the West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats.
Hunter Given

Given has played for the Pioneers the past three years along with his roommate and other half of Webster's former dynamic basketball duo, Brett Morris. Accompanying Hunter during the pre-game recognition was his father, Sam, and brother, Logan.

Pioneer Coach Stephen Dye put Hunter in the starting lineup Saturday and the dynamic duo were once again gracing the hardwoods together. During his three years with the Pioneers, Hunter saw limited action, averaging only 2.7 minutes per game this season. Many other players in similar situations would have moved on or resigned, but Hunter stuck to it, always encouraging his teammates during the games and adding a force during practices. He deserves a lot of credit for standing with his team these past three years.

The video link below shows Hunter (#22) during the pre-game recognition and some of his playing time at the start of the game.

Webster Playoff Hopes Dashed Early

The basketball season for the Webster County Highlanders boys' team and its hopes for a run in the playoffs came to a quick end Saturday with their 76 to 69 opening round loss to the Valley (Fayette) Greyhounds.

Valley held leads at the end of each quarter, leading 18-15 at the end of the first, 30-25 at halftime, and 53-46 at the end of the third. Valley's Spencer Dean led all scorers with 27 points. For Webster, Dalton Gray had 24 points, while Bradin Miller scored 16, Hayden Williams 13 and Dorian Groggs 12.

With the loss, the Highlanders finished the season with a 13 win, 10 loss record. Valley advances to play Charleston Catholic next week.

Saturday, February 25, 2017

Brett Morris: A Class Act

Webster County native Brett Morris played his final home game as a Glenville State College Pioneer today in front of an appreciative crowd at the WACO Center in Glenville. The Pioneers came up short on the scoreboard 76 to 69 to the visiting West Virginia Wesleyan Bobcats.

We placed two of these 3 x 5 foot banners inside the WACO
Center for Brett's final home game.
Brett showed he continues to be a class act both on and off the court. The link to the video below shows Brett being honored on Senior Night prior to tipoff, accompanied by his parents and his little buddy, Cruz Frymier, a two and one-half year old child battling kidney cancer. As to his play on the court, it would be very easy to upload clips of Brett today scoring points, blocking shots, grabbing rebounds, or dishing out assists (he had plenty of all of those). But the single play from today's game included in the video below epitomizes what a multi-talented threat he is during each and every game. Countless unimaginable times opposing players misjudge Brett's defensive prowess and this play is a classic example of Brett's abilities with this steal.


It has been a pleasure and honor following Brett around from his high school days at Webster County through his college career at Glenville. Brett has always put up with my numerous interviews, videos, photos, and requests to meet my relatives (even at times like today when many a player would rather not be bothered after a disappointing loss). During that process, I have also been fortunate to know his parents, Mike and Diane, class acts by themselves (and it is no wonder Brett developed into the person he is today with their guidance and encouragement).

Brett and his team will play in the MEC tournament next Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at the Charleston Civic Center against UVA-Wise. We wish him well and as to his future, I have a sneaking suspicion we will see Brett back on the court, either as a player in one of the many foreign professional leagues or as a coach here in the States.
Cruz Frymier with his parents.
To donate to the Cruz Frymier Cancer Fund, please visit this link:

Brett Morris to Play Last College Home Game Today

One chapter in the storied college career of Webster County High School's most prolific scorer closes today as Brett Morris plays his last home game at the WACO Center in Glenville today at 4:00 p.m.

Morris, a senior at Glenville, will suit up for the home crowd for the last time before heading to the Mountain East Conference playoffs in Charleston next Wednesday.

Glenville senior Brett Morris
Brett on the night he made his 1,000th point in his high school career.



Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Highlanders Finish Regular Season on Winning Note

It took overtime, but the Webster County Highlanders varsity boys' team beat their arch rival Richwood Lumberjacks 76 to 72 at Richwood Wednesday evening. With the win, the Highlanders finished their regular season with 13 wins, 9 losses. Webster now travels to Oak Hill High School to play an opening round playoff game against the Valley Fayette Greyhounds on Saturday, February 25 at 5:00 p.m.

Webster JV Team Finishes Perfect Season

A force to be reckoned with.

The future is bright for Webster County Highlanders boys' basketball as their JV team finished their regular season this evening with a perfect 19 win and 0 loss record after routing the Richwood Lumberjack JV team at Richwood by a final score of 82 to 37.

Under the guidance of Assistant Coach Eddie Mazzella, the JV team has posted an impressive 44 win, four loss record over the past three seasons. Anyone who has watched this JV team this year knows it is readily apparent that the varsity team will continue to do well in the immediate future years.

Coach Mazzella and the team: congratulations on an amazing accomplishment.


Boys' Playoff Matchup Set

According to basketballnight.com and other sources, the Webster County Highlanders boys' basketball team will play the Valley Fayette Greyhounds in an opening round playoff game on February 25 at 5:00 p.m. at Oak Hill.

The seven teams in Webster's section were seeded as follows: Fayetteville, #1; Charleston Catholic, #2; Webster County, #3; Richwood, #4; Pocahontas County, #5; Valley Fayette, #6; and Midland Trail, #7. All sectional playoff games will be played at the Oak Hill Red Devils' high school. The opening round games are scheduled for February 25. 

Richwood will play Pocahontas County at 3:00 p.m., followed by the Webster-Valley game at 5:00 pm., with the nightcap at 7:00 p.m. pitting Charleston Catholic against Midland Trail. Fayetteville, as the number one seed, will have a bye. 

The winner of the Richwood-Pocahontas game will face Fayetteville on February 28 at 5:30 p.m. and the winners of the Charleston Catholic-Midland Trail and Webster-Valley games will play each other on February 28 at 7:30 p.m, with the sectional championship set for March 2 at 7:00 p.m.

The fact that all playoff games are now to be played at neutral sites changes a long history of higher seeded teams earning by their play during the regular season the right to host playoff games on their own court. The home court advantage is no more thanks to this type of political correctness gone amuck now invading sports. The day will come when during a game you can only applaud at designated intervals, like being at an opera. After all, we don't want to offend someone.

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Tax Increase for Most Under Republican Plan

This should come as no surprise to anyone.

The proposed Republican plan to eliminate personal and corporate income tax and replace it with an 8% sales tax on everything, including food, will result in an overall tax increase for 80% of West Virginia households.

The proposal's lead sponsor is none other than Webster's quack senator, Robert Karnes, and supported by Webster's other bozo senator, Greg Boso.


Monday, February 20, 2017

Former Chief Justice Endorses Marijuana Legalization

Former Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Richard Neely has endorsed the legalization of marijuana in West Virginia for both medicinal and recreational use. Despite this and other similar endorsements from well placed officials, it is likely the backwards thinking legislature will not approve this until West Virginia is the last State in the Union to legalize it for any purpose. What follows is a reprint of Justice Neely's endorsement:

"Has anyone noticed that a person can roller skate down Charleston's Quarrier Street at high noon without fear of being hit by a car? That is because West Virginia's economy is dead: our mines are closed; the price of oil and gas is so low that there is no drilling; and, the chemical industry is slowly moving to the Gulf because plants there can "pipe" chemicals to one another.

Furthermore, our local government units, like the Boone County Board of Education, are going bankrupt; the current state deficit for fiscal 2018 is projected at nearly $500 million with the cities and counties being in no better shape.

And the bad news doesn't stop there: The new billion dollar casino and hotel complex in the D.C. area is draining money from our video lottery facilities at race tracks and the Greenbrier Resort, which probably means a bigger deficit than even was at first predicted.

Therefore, the issue of legalization of marijuana is not a social issue, and it is not a medical issue. It is an economic issue. And as an economic issue, there is great urgency. As it stands now, neighboring states have not legalized recreational use of marijuana, although Ohio recently legalized medical marijuana. Therefore, right now - not next year, not after the next election, not "down the road," but rather right now - we have a great opportunity to begin a new industry that will employ thousands directly and many more indirectly. In Colorado, the industry generated about $1.1 billion last year in sales, and governments collected $150 million in direct taxes. Indirect taxes, of course, produced more through worker income tax, real estate tax on new industrial facilities, and state fees like workers compensation premiums.

In economics, the Boston Consulting Group propounded an empirically-based theory in the 1980s that the greater a firm's total lifetime production of any product, the lower the firm's costs per unit. Called the "learning curve theory," Boston Consulting pointed out that a large-scale producer will inevitably be more competitive than new entrants in any field because of what the firm has learned about quality control, efficient production and economical distribution. Therefore, if West Virginia can get the jump on other Eastern states now and exploit a monopoly in the East for three or four years, we can become the experienced and low-cost producer of high quality marijuana.

Today marijuana is an "industrial," and not an "agricultural" product. In Colorado, it is illegal to "grow" marijuana in open fields; rather, all production is done through "hydroponics," where the plants are grown indoors in large tanks using 24-hour sun lamps. Among other things, this industrial process is a boon to the electric utility companies who are currently experiencing an exodus of West Virginia industries and middle class workers (Kanawha County, for example, lost 700 students in the public schools last year alone) with no commensurate reduction in the cost of electrical infrastructure maintenance.

As to marijuana as either a social issue or medical issue, any 12-year-old in West Virginia attending a public school can get marijuana for either recreational or medical purposes within half an hour! And, with eight states already making marijuana legal for recreational purposes, its pervasive legal use in the next 10 years is all but inevitable. For all intents and purposes, West Virginia already has a "conspicuous policy of non-enforcement." Therefore, the only question is whether the West Virginia Legislature - most of whose members have campaigned on "providing jobs" - will sit around gathering wool until the one "real" opportunity for jobs has gone down the toilet, or do something very un-West Virginian, namely be innovative and creative, in the next seven weeks.

All of the heavy lifting on marijuana legalization has already been done. Colorado has an excellent set of statutes regulating the industry, so all we need do here is copy those statutes. Among other salutary things, as I indicated before, Colorado does not allow marijuana to be grown outdoors for public safety reasons, which means jobs and more jobs building, maintaining and controlling the indoor growing and harvesting of the product.

We have a fair, but not spectacular, tourism industry. Particularly we have Timberline and Snowshoe for skiing and modest all-season recreation, and we have white water rafting in Fayette County. In addition we have The Greenbrier hotel and some very nice state parks. But if we legalized marijuana, West Virginia would become much more attractive for tourism, second homes, and as a place for young, entrepreneurial millennials to live. This has been Colorado's experience, where the real estate market is booming in Denver from young people attracted by legalization and what "legalization" says about the tone of the society.

West Virginia's population is the second oldest of all states, right behind the retirement Mecca of the World, Florida. But we need to understand that people under 40 aren't social conservatives la old bastards like me: the young people are generally a libertarian, live-and-let-live bunch, so if we want to keep our own young and attract new blood, we must accommodate the young and not drive them off.

What, of course, will discourage our legislature is that Republicans must always fear challenges from the right. The Tea Party is always a much greater threat to Republican incumbents than the Bernie Sanders socialists are to Democrat incumbents. And, for so long as marijuana usage is presented as a "social issue" to benefit long-haired, poetry-reading, NPR-listening, gun-controlling beatniks and hippies, the right wing threat will be there in spades. However, if legalization of marijuana is presented as an opportunity to put unemployed coal miners to work in places like Pineville, Logan, Cabin Creek and Webster Springs, or as an opportunity to rejuvenate our state to keep our kids home and bring in some new, well-educated young people, or as a cure for our cities' and counties' endemic insolvency, we might have a chance of getting a statute passed this year.

Finally, it does us absolutely no good to legalize "medical" marijuana or to take any other half-way measure. That kind of thinking still conceptualizes marijuana as a "social" or "medical" issue, which will cause America once again to stamp our foreheads with the name "loser," printed backwards so we can read it in the mirror!

If we want a new industry and all the campaign talk about "jobs" wasn't just bovine excrement, then we must legalize recreational marijuana in the next seven weeks!"

Neely is a former chief justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and now a practicing lawyer in Charleston.

Thursday, February 16, 2017

More Hoops Heartbreak for Highlanders

It was a strange game.

The Webster boys' team fell behind by as many as 18 points in the third quarter before mounting a furious rally to pull to within 1 point with about 20 seconds remaining in the game, but fell short to the visiting Williamstown Yellow Jackets by a final score of 57 to 56 Thursday evening.

Strange events occurred throughout the second half. 

First, a Webster player intentionally made a layup on the wrong end of the court early in the third quarter, giving the Yellow Jackets two free points. Second, at a critical time in the fourth quarter, a Webster fan sitting three rows back near the Webster bench called (yelled) for a timeout and the referee actually gave a timeout to Webster. Even coach Mike Gray had a smile on his face over that. He wanted a timeout but the fan beat him to the call. Third, one of Webster's livestream announcers about came out of his chair, along with countless Webster fans, over several non-calls by the referees. The usually calm, cool, and collected announcer was in total disbelief, a feeling shared by many. Fourth, and finally, when it looked like the Webster players were resigned to lose the game when they were behind 18 points, prodding by coach Gray and assistant coach Eddie Mazzella encouraged the team not to give up and they slowly and methodically ran a near flawless press, resulting in countless turnovers and points to nearly win the game.

The teams were tied at 12 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a buzzer beating layup by senior Chase Rose. Williamstown then opened up a 10 point lead at 34 to 24 at halftime. The Yellow Jackets then increased the lead to 18 points midway into the third quarter, but Webster chipped away at that lead to trail 49 to 35 at the end of three quarters. Early in the fourth quarter, Williamstown ran up a 17 point lead before the Highlanders mounted their comeback, and had a chance to tied the game but for a missed free throw.

Dalton Gray led the Highlanders with 18 points. Dorian Groggs and Hayden Williams both netted 11 points. Bradin Miller had 8 points, Chase Rose had 4 points, and Tyler Gray and Mathias Palmer each had 2 points to round out the scoring for Webster.

With the loss, the Highlanders' season record falls to 12 wins, 9 losses, with a final regular season game at Richwood on February 22. The last two losses for Webster puts their hopes of hosting a home playoff game in serious jeopardy. The final game against Richwood will weigh heavily on those hopes.

The Webster JV team improved to a perfect 18 and 0 in their rout of the Williamstown JV team by a final score of 77 to 38.

WV Senate Republicans About to Ruin State

Today, Senate Republicans in the West Virginia Legislature introduced a bill to eliminate all income tax and, of course, all corporate taxes and replace it with an 8 percent sales tax on everything from food to services.

Sounds good? No more West Virginia income tax.  Yea.

But now you will pay 8% on food, any purchases, and any services.

Who will feel the impact of this new proposal? Anyone making less than $50,000 per year will experience an overall tax increase, and anyone making over $50,000 will experience an overall tax decrease. In other words, over 80 percent of the West Virginia population will pay more in taxes and the richer 20 percent will pay less.

Who won't feel the impact of this proposal? Corporations, who will pay no income tax, and the coal, oil, and gas industry because the severance tax is lowered to 3% under this plan. See a trend here folks? Corporations win, people lose.

Typical Republican plan: take from the poor, give to the rich.

The lead sponsor of this plan is none other than our quack Senator from Upshur County, Robert Karnes, who, if he had his way, would eliminate all taxation and all government services. He is joined by our other Senator, Greg "Bozo" Boso from Nicholas County.

The bottom line for the state's budget will be less revenue and more deficits. The fact is these legislators have no data to support whether this "consumption tax" will generate enough revenue to fund state government even if they cut $500 million from the budget to balance the same as it stands now.

At least West Virginia will be first in something: the highest grocery tax in the nation.



Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Overtime Heartbreak for Highlanders

In a nip and tuck battle all evening long, the Highlanders boys' team finally fell in overtime 72 to 71 to the visiting Greenbrier West Cavaliers on Tuesday before a large crowd.

West held a 14 to 12 lead at the end of the first quarter and the teams went into halftime tied at 26. West then opened up a five point lead at 44 to 39 at the end of three quarters. 

The Highlanders then mounted a comeback, but trailed by 4 with less than a minute remaining. With 47 seconds remaining, senior Dalton Gray banked in a seven foot jumper. At 38 seconds remaining, sophomore Dorian Groggs stole the ball in the backcourt and quickly tipped the ball to Gray for an easy layup and the game was tied at 63 with 32 seconds remaining in regulation. After a West charging call, Webster had 17 seconds left to make a game winning shot. At 6 seconds, Gray's 10 foot jumper fell short and the Cavaliers launched a half court shot that missed as the buzzer sounded, sending the game into overtime.

In overtime, West quickly built up a four point lead, but the Highlanders came racing back to take a 71 to 69 lead. A Cavalier player grabbed an offensive rebound with 16 seconds remaining in overtime and made a layup and was fouled in the process. With the game tied at 71, the West player sank the free throw for the West lead, setting up once again a final chance for the Highlanders to win.  Gray's 12 foot jumper at 3 seconds remaining bounced off the rim and West grabbed the rebound to preserve the 72 to 71 win for the Cavaliers.

The Highlanders' efforts in the second half and overtime were not helped by the referees who called 16 fouls on Webster to only 8 on West (did Webster commit 16 fouls? Yes, but West committed a lot more than 8). Despite the obvious disparity in foul calls, Webster had their chances in regulation and overtime to win the game but fell short both times.

Once again, senior Billy Wilson proved why he has been inserted into the starting lineup by both his offensive and defensive play during this game. If stats were kept for players who take charges from the other team, Wilson would walk away with the title as he proves again and again his willingness to lay his body on the line for his team. In addition, most of the night he was defending one of West's six foot seven inch players, and he held his own. Off the bench tonight, senior Bradin Miller contributed several points and key defensive plays. Wilson and Miller's play was complemented by the regular, consistent scoring and defensive cast of Gray, Groggs, Hayden Williams, and Mathias Palmer.

Gray led all scorers with 27 points. Miller had 13 points, and Groggs added 11.

This game was surely a heartbreak to lose with so many chances to win. With the loss, the Highlanders' season record drops to 12 wins, 8 losses on the season, with two regular season games remaining (on February 16 at home against Williamstown and on February 22 at Richwood). The loss also snapped Webster's four game win streak. The JV team did not play as a girls' CWVAC 7th/8th grade playoff game was played just prior, which Webster won handily.

The video included at the link below shows the final minutes of the regulation and overtime periods:
Game Video


Monday, February 13, 2017

Power Rankings Have Webster Third in Playoff Section

Of the seven teams in the playoff sectional in which the Webster County Highlanders boys' team will compete, Webster is currently ranked third behind number one Fayetteville and number two Charleston Catholic. Following Webster at fourth is Pocahontas County, with Richwood at fifth, Valley Fayette at sixth, and Midland Trail at seventh.

The Highlanders have beaten Valley Fayette, Midland Trail, and Richwood (with a rematch at Richwood on February 22), and they have lost to Fayetteville and Charleston Catholic. All teams in Webster's section have winning records except for Midland Trail, who currently posts an 8 win, 9 loss record.

If the regular season were to end today, and the win/loss records along with the power ratings are used to seed the teams in the playoffs, Webster would likely host Valley Fayette in an opening round playoff game. The other opening round matchups would include a bye for Fayetteville, with Charleston Catholic hosting Midland Trail and Pocahontas County hosting Richwood.

Whether Webster will host an opening round playoff game will, of course, depend on the results of their final three games as Charleston Catholic, Pocahontas County, and Richwood have records and power ratings very close to that of the Highlanders.  Webster's record stands at 12-7, Catholic is also 12-7 (but ahead of Webster based on their win against the Highlanders earlier this season), Pocahontas is 11-7, and Richwood is 9-7.

Webster's section is clearly the stronger section in the Region which will send two teams to the State Tournament in Charleston.  Of the six teams in the other section, only Greenbrier West and Greater Beckley Christian have .500 records, both at 9 wins, 9 losses on the season.  The other four teams are below .500, and all six teams in this other section have power ratings lower than Midland Trail, who is the lowest rated team in Webster's section.

Given all of these records and scenarios, Webster is in control of its own destiny, whether it is hosting an opening round playoff game, or in making it to the State Tournament.  Their performance in their final three games will send a strong signal, either way, regarding their playoff hopes.

The most recent power ratings for all Class AAA, AA, and A teams can be found at this link (scroll down for Class A teams):
Power Ratings

Friday, February 10, 2017

Highlanders Win on Senior Night

The Webster boys' team took care of business on senior night as they defeated the visiting Roane County Raiders 79 to 73 Friday evening, avenging an earlier loss to Roane.
Senior basketball players along with senior livestream announcer before the game.
Senior Dalton Gray sustained a serious injury, losing half of one of his front teeth, but never left the game and helped lead his team to victory. Gray had 23 points in the win. Sophomore Dorian Groggs led all scorers with 27 points. Also scoring for the Highlanders were: Michael Malcolm 2, Billy Wilson 10, Hayden Williams 13, and Mathias, Palmer 4.
Senior Dalton Gray shows his front tooth that was broken during the game.
Webster scored an impressive 33 points in the first quarter and never relinquished the lead. With the win, Webster improved to  12 wins, 7 losses on the season and vastly improved their chances to host a home playoff game.

According to Assistant Coach Eddie Mazzella, Webster will host Greenbrier West next Tuesday, February 14, and will host Williamstown next Thursday, February 16. Because the Highlanders did not place in the top two in the LKC conference, they will not be playing next Saturday at the WACO Center in Glenville for the LKC championship, although Webster will have two players competing in the three point shootout at the WACO. Williamstown sports an 11 win, 8 loss record. As far as common opponents go, Williamstown, like Webster, beat Calhoun County and lost to Fayetteville. Webster will then play on February 22 at Richwood to finish the regular season.

On another positive note for Webster, the JV team keeps rolling along with their perfect season, which now stands at 17 wins, 0 losses, after defeating the Roane County JV team this evening.

Thursday, February 9, 2017

Nicholas County Judge Suspended for Two Years

Neighboring Nicholas County Judge Stephen Callaghan was suspended today without pay for two years for lies he made during last years' judicial election which he won by 227 votes.

During his campaign against incumbent judge Gary Johnson, Callaghan, among other things, put out a flyer saying that while Nicholas County citizens were losing jobs, Johnson was at the White House partying with President Obama.  The postcard flyer was photoshopped and completely false and Callaghan knew it was false when he authorized it, according to the West Virginia Supreme Court.

This is part of the postcard flyer that resulted in Judge Callaghan's two year suspension without pay.

Today, the West Virginia Supreme Court suspended Callaghan from office without pay for two years, fined him $15,000.00, and made him pay the costs of the disciplinary action.

All five justices agreed that Callaghan should be suspended for at least two years.  One justice argued the two year suspension was not long enough, suggesting that at least three or four years would be more appropriate because of the lies and falsehoods made by Callaghan during the election.

The Court's full opinion can be read here:
The full opinion of the justice who wanted a longer suspension can be read here:


Tuesday, February 7, 2017

What Curse? Highlanders Handle Bobcats 69 - 55

Dispelling any notion that they can't play on the big stage, the Highlander boys' team played a consistent game at the Charleston Civic Center this afternoon to beat the Summers County Bobcats 69 to 55.

Webster grabbed the lead early in the first quarter and never looked back, holding a 22 to 7 lead at the end of the first quarter, and a 30 to 20 lead at halftime.  Webster ran up an 18 point lead at 44 to 26 in the third quarter and finished the quarter with an insurmountable 17 point lead at 49 to 32.  The Highlanders then coasted to the final score of 69 to 55 (it should be noted that although the scoreboard read 69 to 55 at the final buzzer, the Associated Press reports the final score at 70 to 55 and the box score supports the 70 points--must have been some post-game adjustment if that is true).

Highlanders who scored included:  Michael Malcolm 5, Billy Wilson 3, Hayden Williams 18, Dorian Groggs 15, Dalton Gray 16, Bradin Miller 9, and Mathias Palmer 4.

Large portions of the game were broadcast live by the Commentator on Periscope via Twitter @highlander_fan1.

Former head coach Steven Nutter watched the game and saw the Highlanders win for the first time in about the six games he has attended.  As a result, his ban is lifted.

With the win, Webster improves to 11 wins, 7 losses on the season.  They next play at home this Friday against Roane County.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Curse of the Big Arena

With rare exception, the Highlander boy's basketball team has had less than good luck playing at large arenas like the WACO Center in Glenville and the Civic Center in Charleston.  They look to break their relative bad luck at these arenas in the next few weeks with a date Tuesday against Summers County at the Civic Center and possible LKC play at the WACO in mid-February.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Webster JV Team Improves to Perfect 16 - 0

Under the guidance of Assistant Coach Eddie Mazzella, the Webster County Highlanders boy's junior varsity team improved their season record to a perfect 16 wins, 0 losses after clubbing the Braxton County Eagles' JV team 84 to 40 this evening at Sutton.

Over the past three seasons combined, the Webster JV team has lost only four games against 40 wins.

Webster Clips Eagles

In a game described at times as "pandemonium" by Braxton radio announcers, the Webster County Highlanders boys' team beat rival Braxton County Eagles 79 to  69 Thursday evening at Sutton.

Webster built up a 42-30 halftime lead behind 21 points by sophomore guard Dorian Groggs, who finished the night with a game high 33 points. Webster's press led to 12 points off of Braxton turnovers in the first half.  Webster never trailed in the game.  

In the third quarter, Webster led by as many as 18 points before the Eagles closed the gap to 54 to 37 at the end of the quarter. Webster went up by 16 points in the final stanza and coasted to the victory. Braxton did not make a 3 point shot until 8 seconds remained in the game. Webster made 23 of 37 free throws compared to 8 of 23 by Braxton.

In addition to Groggs' 33 points, Hayden Williams scored 18 points, Dalton Gray added 18, Billy Wilson had 6, Chase Rose with 3, and Mathias Palmer had 1 point to round out the scoring for Webster.

Webster has beaten Braxton twice this season.  The Highlanders improved their season record to 10 wins, 7 losses.

Webster next plays the Summers County Bobcats on Tuesday at the Charleston Civic Center, with tip off scheduled for 1:15 p.m.  The Bobcats sport a 4 win, 12 loss record, but their 4 wins are against 4 teams Webster has beaten by similar margins.