Williamstown's Tyler Keiser is fouled by Chapmanville's Jay Brock while going after a loose ball during the Tigers' 70-58 victory Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

WILLIAMSTOWN — Chapmanville used a balanced scoring attack here Friday night and shot nearly 61% from the field through the first three quarters as the Tigers of head coach Brad Napier extended their winning streak to eight games after handing Williamstown a 70-58 setback.

Keaton Terry, who double-doubled with 14 points and a game-high 12 rebounds, opened the scoring with a putback as the No. 3 Class AAA Tigers never trailed while improving to 17-3.

“They are really, really good,” admitted WHS boss Scott Sauro, whose squad finished the regular season at 10-12 and was led by Nate Nicely’s 13 points. “Obviously, they are like one of the top teams in triple-A. We knew it would be a tall task with them coming in here, but from our perspective we wanted to use this game for regional preparation.

“We were trying to work on a couple of things that could help us in the regional. I think it was a good game for us in that regard. I’m obviously disappointed we lost. The kids are disappointed that we lost, but there’s some positives we can draw from that one, too.”

Williamstown fell behind 13-2 at 2:49 of the first after Jay Brock flushed one and Terry assisted on a layup by Dakota Dalton, who had 13 counters and was a carom shy of a double-double.

Williamstown's Colt Rinard is pressured by Chapmanville's Logan Hovanec during the Tigers' 70-58 victory Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Although Nate Frye hit from beyond the arc for part of his eight markers and it was 15-7 when Caleb Atkinson scored for part of his 11 points, the Tigers led 19-7 after one thanks to Kyler Blair finding Logan Hovanec, who later added a trio of 3s to tally 11 points off the bench.

The Yellowjackets used the triple to try and stay in it during the second quarter. WHS got a 3 apiece from Atkinson, Colt Rinard, Cedric Davis and Dom Strcula, but the hosts still trailed 31-21 with 3:31 left in the half.

Strcula’s trifecta was immediately answered by one from Hovanec as the Tigers closed the half on a 10-5 spurt for a 15-point intermission advantage.

Another triple by Davis, an Atkinson lay-in and then a second trifecta from Rinard, who had eight points and was filling in for senior point guard Wyatt Powell, kept the ‘Jackets within striking distance at 48-34 early in the third, but the Tigers scored the next seven points including back-to-back buckets by Benji Adkins, who shared game-high scoring honors with Terry.

Chapmanville, which got 10 points from Eli Smith and closes out the regular season on Monday at Huntington before entering the Region IV tournament as the No. 1 seed, led 64-45 entering the fourth.

Williamstown's Caleb Atkinson goes up for a lay-in during the Yellowjackets' 70-58 setback to Chapmanville on Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“I’m going to give them tomorrow off so they can rest their bodies for the whole weekend,” said Sauro, who got eight rebounds from Atkinson. “Our message is our record is 0-0 just like everybody else right now. When you finish your last regular season game it’s a reset. If you’re having a really good year you reset to 0-0 and you have to earn everything from now on.

“If you are having a tougher year you get to reset and have a new opportunity. For us, we’re looking at it as an opportunity. Just go play our best basketball at this time of the year. That’s what we want to do and I think the kids have a great mindset. They are good kids. They work hard and I think they’ll come ready to work on Monday.”

All-in-all, the slow start was too much for WHS to overcome as the hosts missed their first eight shots and committed all nine of their turnovers in the opening half, which included five in the first.

“It says a lot about our schedule. Our non-conference schedule was very difficult,” Sauro added of having the No. 3 seed and playing host to No. 6 Ravenswood next Friday in the Class AA, Region I tournament.

“Honestly, we’re several possessions away from being a 14- or 15-win team. We’ve lost at least five games we’ve had double digit leads in. When you think about it like that we’re not that far away. We just go to put it together and now is the time to do it.”

Williamstown's Nate Frye gets ready to pass the ball inside while being guarded by Chapmanville's Dakota Dalton during the Tigers' 70-58 victory Friday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com