KEVIN RAUCH/For The Express Bucktail's Gavin Pick shoots as West Branch's Easton Emigh provides tough defense as the Warriors won, 66-41.

FARWELL — With senior Dylan McConigal needing just nine points to hit 1,000 for his career, people from Morrisdale traveled well to Farwell Tuesday night which led to a rare scene in Farwell as West Branch visited Bucktail.

About 100 Warrior faithful outnumbered and cheered loud over the home team as all eyes were on their 6-foot, 2-inch shooting guard McConigal, who did not wait long to eclipse the milestone.

The senior came out on fire in the first quarter, hitting two 3-pointers and three more from inside the arc as the 12 points more than eclipsed the 1,000-point mark. Fans who had brought signs jumped to their feet as family members were called onto the court to celebrate.

His efforts to reach 1,000 helped West Branch beat Bucktail, 66-41.

With the offense running at full speed the Warriors defense followed suit, smothering the Bucktail shooters and not allowing any easy looks. By the end of the first quarter, it had all the makings of a quick night.

Bucktail coach Travis Fantaskey has said after every game this season that his team just cannot play a complete four quarters and that was about to hold true in a positive way after halftime. The Bucks trailed 29-14 going into the break but his team came out inspired in the third quarter.

The Bucks quickly cut into the lead and a pair of Aidan Ditty threes led to a 31-24 game. The Bucks continued to rally and forced West Branch to take their second time out of the quarter when they pulled within six at 34-28 with 3:25 remaining.

Unfortunately, that was as close as the home team could get as the Warriors frustrated Bucktail shooters again, just as they had done in the game’s opening minutes. Outside of a pair of Teagan Stone foul shots the Bucks would not get another field goal until Corbin Pentz hit a three-point long ball at the 6:02 mark of the fourth quarter, amounting to the Bucks going over five and a half minutes drought other than the free throws.

“That’s actually a good sign but also makes me want to pull my hair out of my head,” Fantaskey said. “We’re so close, I know that they can do it, we just stumble a several points in every game.”

The Bucks fell to 7-13 and will now play their final game of the season when they host Juniata Christian (1-12) Saturday afternoon.

As for the visitors, they put an exclamation point on the win when the student athletes chanting “We want Noah,” about Noah Gay, who was put into the game with 18 seconds remaining and promptly drained a trey, leading to an eruption by the visiting fans. The Warriors improved to 8-13 on the season.

West Branch 66, Bucktail 41

WEST BRANCH (66)

McConigal 8 3-3 21, Coby Kephart 2 0-0 5, Easton Emigh 5 2-2 12, Caleb Hudson 5 1-2 12, Owen Gibson 4 0-0 11, Evan Emigh 1 0-0 2, Noah Gay 1 0-0 3. Totals 26 6-7 66.

BUCKTAIL (41)

Gavin Pick 5 2-2 13, Aidan Ditty 4 0-0 10, Corbin Pentz 4 3-4 12, Teagan Stone 1 2-4 4, Otis Emerick 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 7-10 41.

West Branch 17 12 13 24 — 66

Bucktail 7 7 16 11 — 41

3-point goals: West Branch 8 (Gibson 3, McConigal 2, Gay 1, Kephart 1, Hudson 1), Bucktail 4 (Ditty 2, Pick 1, Pentz 1).