The Man High School Hillbillies are headed to the Class A state basketball championship game for the first time in 31 years.
The tournament’s top seed built a commanding halftime lead and cruised to an 81-54 win over No. 4 and defending champion Webster County in the semifinals played at the Charleston Coliseum on Thursday night.
Man’s Austin Ball and Caleb Blevins combined to score 49 points, Ball with 25, as the Hillbillies moved to 15-2. Blevins set a new state record for Class A with eight three-pointers.
Peyton Adams followed with 18 points and Andrew Tackett finished with 11.
The Hillbillies, who will face No. 3 Pendleton County last appeared in the finals in 1990 when they fell to Wheeling Central in the AA title game.
At Charleston
(Class A semifinals)
SCORE BY QUARTERS:
WC (12-6)……16 10 14 14 – 54
MN (15-2)…….19 23 13 26 – 81
Scoring:
Webster County (54) – Kyan Gillespie 2 0-0 4; Kaden Cutlip 4(2) 0-0 14; Devin Coley 0(2) 0-1 6; Riley Clevenger 1 0-0 2; Carter Williams 0(2) 1-2 7; Rye Gadd 5(1) 2-3 15; and Dakota Blankenship 3 0-0 6. Totals: 15(7) 3-6 54.
Man (81) – Peyton Adams 2(4) 2-2 18; Ryan Cozart 1 0-0 2; Christian Toler 0 1-2 1; Austin Ball 11 3-4 25; Caleb Blevins 0(8) 0-1 24; and Jackson Tackett 4 3-4 11. Totals: 18(12) 9-14 81.
Next up: No. 1 Man (15-2) vs. No. 3 Pendleton County (16-0), state championship, 10 a.m., Saturday.