CHARLESTON — West Fork’s Cody Cone pulled up outside the 3-point line and drained a long-range shot from the right side of the court.
His 3-pointer early in the second quarter gave the Tigers a commanding 13-point lead.
And that was only the beginning.
West Fork took control again in the third quarter and never looked back in defeating Mansf ield 65-42 in the first round of the Class 3A Region 1 Tournament in the Tiger Center.
With the victory, the Tigers (29-2) qualify for the Class 3A State Tournament and will next play the Lincoln-Lamar winner at 5:30 p.m. Friday in the regional semifi nals.
“What I liked about our 3-pointers is that they were from three diff erent people,” West Fork coach David Ferrell said. “We sped it around and got four legitimate 3-point shots in the first half to give us a big lead.
“We have a lot of weapons, that’s what makes us so balanced. We just shot the ball really well.”
West Fork fi nished with six 3-pointers in the game, including three from junior forward Tim Seaman. Senior center Jared Johnson scored a gamehigh 20 points.
After building a 32-18 lead at halftime, West Fork had a 12-1 scoring run midway through the third quarter, which was capped off with a layup from Johnson.
In the second half alone, the Tigers hit 11 of 15 foul shots, including eight from sophomore Josh Ferrell. Mansfi eld (15-14) was led by Jesse Cotner, who scored nine points, while Garrett Sutton and Devyn Miller each scored seven.
Sports, Pages 10 on 02/24/2011