The Warrior basketball team stayed perfect in the EBC with a 45-33 victory at Marlington Friday night.  The Warriors improve to 8-5 overall and 7-0 in the EBC holding a one game lead over Alliance who defeated Carrollton tonight.

Once again solid defense helped lead the West Branch team to victory over the Dukes.  Zach Coffee, Gavin Gregory, and Grady Hirst continue to make baskets hard to come by down low while Kasen Weaver and Jeremiah Thomas prevent quality shot opportunities from the outside by the opposition.

West Branch led 23-16 at the break and stretched its lead to 35-25 after three.  The Dukes hit two three's in the first two minutes of the final period to cut the lead to four, but West Branch closed the game on a 10-2 run for the victory.

Gregory led all scorers with 16 points, all coming from the paint.  After being held scoreless in the first half, Grady Hirst scored 14 second half points to help the Warriors pull away.  Kasen Weaver added eight points including two from behind the arc and Chase Gee had a three pointer for West Branch.

Next up:  The Warriors will travel to Alliance for a 7 PM showdown with the Aviators.  A win clinches at least a share of the EBC while Alliance is trying to even things up in the league.