HS Boys Basketball: Wyoming East out Fox(es) James Monroe to win top-5 clash

Boys Basketball

January 17, 2026•3 min read

Warriors rally from a 10-point, third quarter deficit to grab a 58-53 win over the Mavericks

New Richmond - Sometimes the battles among top-5 ranked teams do not match the hype.

That was not the case Friday night in the War Zone.

Class AA No. 4 James Monroe cruised into Wyoming County full of confidence that it could knock off AA No. 2 Wyoming East on its home floor.

The Mavericks led after each of the first three quarters, but unfortunately for the Monroe County boys, they could not hold off the Warriors down the stretch.

Erasing a 10-point third quarter deficit, Wyoming East stormed back to take a wild 58-53 win.

The win gives the Warriors an early leg up in the AA Region 3 battle for the No. 1-seed in the postseason.

Wyoming East head coach Kent McBride talked the about the win over James Monroe and the early significance.

After trailing 15-13 through one quarter of play, Ryan Mann gave the Mavericks a 35-31 lead with a jumper just before the halftime horn.

The lead quickly moved to nine points when Lane Taylor drilled a 3-pointer ahead of a stickback from Kadyn Hines.

A pair of buckets from Talan Muscari and a score inside by Konnor Fox pulled East back within three points, but the visitors answered right back.

A score by Mann, a layup by Hines through contact and a long ball from Bryer Surface pushed the lead to 10 points with just over three minutes to play in the quarter.

Once again, the hometown kids came fighting back.

Braedy Johnston broke the run with a deuce before Fox scored on a stickback.

Johnston then found Fox coming down the baseline where the big man went up and under for an athletic reverse layup.

Braxton Morgan scored to cap the 8-0 run, ending the quarter, trimming the James Monroe advantage to 47-45 with eight minutes to play.

Fox scored on another stickback early in the final period to tie the game at 49-49.

The junior post was a huge factor all night leading the Warriors with 21 points and 20 rebounds for his second 20-rebound game of the week.

Fox had 22 points and 20 rebounds in the win over Class A No. 1 Tug Valley Tuesday.

Mann stopped the spurt with a crucial bucket, but Fox cleaned up another miss to even the contest again.

James Monroe's final lead came when Mann split a pair of free throws ahead of a big defensive play and score from Muscari.

The sophomore all-stater poked the ball free into the hands of Morgan who executed a perfect fast-break, dishing it back to Muscari for the go-ahead score with 2:28 to play.

Free throws down the stretch from Muscari, Fox and Keegan Davidson sealed the win for the Warriors.

James Monroe head coach Kelly Mann discussed the battle with Wyoming East Friday.