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Anna beats overmatched West Liberty-Salem

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By David Jablonski, Staff Writer Updated 10:26 AM Monday, April 6, 2009

The West Liberty-Salem boys basketball team knew what it was getting into when the tournament awarded it a second-round Division III sectional game against Anna.

The Tigers lost to Anna 65-35 on Feb. 7, and the Rockets took a 19-2 record into the rematch Friday, Feb. 27, at UD Arena.

On paper, it was no contest. In reality, the same held true as the Tigers fell 61-32 to the top-seeded Rockets.

"We were overmatched tonight," West Liberty coach Aaron Hollar said. "I don't think we played as well as we could have, but it would have been a tough night even if we had."

Anna advances to play Northeastern in the sectional final at 6:30 p.m. Friday, March 6, at UD Arena. The No. 17 seed Jets (13-9) beat Greeneview 53-47 in the first game at UD Arena on Friday.

The No. 22 seed Tigers finished the season 7-14. After starting 0-3 and then going 1-6 in January, the team rallied in the final month of the season, even avenging an earlier loss to Northeastern.

"(The season) didn't go as well as we wanted to," Hollar said. "The thing I was most proud of was how we finished. We won four of our last six (regular-season games). When you're getting kicked around a little bit, it's tough to stay in it, but our guys did. We played well down the stretch."

In his final game as a Tiger, 6-foot-7 senior Nate Bratka scored 14 points.

"He's been great," Hollar said. "He was on a really good team as a sophomore. Last year, he was a major contributor. This year, he kind of carried us with as good as an individual season as I've seen in a while. He's a team guy. He would rather have the wins."

The Tigers lose only one other senior, Chris Thornburg.

"I think they know they've got some work to do," Hollar said. "If we want to compete at the level of winning the sectional or winning the league, they know they're not there yet. It's a bunch of guys who are good athletes and like basketball. That's a pretty good recipe as far as what the future holds. Hopefully, they understand what varsity basketball is all about."

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