Prep boys state basketball: Lucas Lambert among freshmen leading Logan's future

On the losing end of a 44-42 WVSSAC Class AA state tournament quarterfinal to No. 4 Wyoming East, No. 5 Logan can now focus on making those coming days brighter with the goal of redemption.

“I just didn’t really play good,” said Lambert, who averaged 17 points a game this season to lead Logan to a 14-10 record against a brutal schedule. “I tried everything else. I got to the rack a couple of times, I just couldn’t finish, you know?”

Lambert finished with six points in the game on 2-of-14 shooting from the field, including 0 for 5 from 3-point range.

Sherod scored four points on 2-of-7 shooting.

Logan shot 32.1% from the field (17 for 53), a tribute to the familiarity Wyoming East and Logan had with each other this season, Wildcats coach Mark Hatcher said.

“I challenged my guys. The last two games that we’ve lost to them, we’ve got outrebounded both games,” Hatcher said. “[On Tuesday] we had more steals than them. We did everything we set out to do but win the ball game.”

Although Sherod and Hatfield depart to graduation, with Hatfield having led Logan with 14 points in his final game, the future of Logan under Hatcher will be left to players like Lambert and Ivan Miller.

Miller, a junior, scored eight points and grabbed 11 of the Wildcats’ 36 rebounds.

The returning players will have the motivation of having come close to a victory in the state tournament, only to see the win slip away at the foul line with no time left.

Hatcher said Miller’s two misses at the foul line with no time remaining did not cost the Wildcats the game.

Miller and Lambert will be instrumental in Logan's attempt to return to Charleston for a mid-March run in 2026. Wyoming East may well be there too, with its own freshmen and sophomores coming back.

Lambert, for one, is confident that Logan will be there.

“We’re going to get another chance back here,” Lambert said. “If our freshman group stays together, we’ll be all right. I’ll play the same way.”

The Wildcats' seniors, a group which also includes McCormick Ilderton, who scored seven points in his final game, have aided in the development of the six freshmen on the Logan roster, Hatcher said.

“I think they set the tone for the future,” Hatcher said. “We got a lot of freshmen and a lot of young players. I know Lucas has really grown and he grew with the help of these three seniors. We’re looking forward to the next few years and we hope to be back here every year.”