ATHENA – Knappa hit the ground running when it arrived at Weston-McEwen High School, then continued to run nonstop for the next 32 minutes.

The Loggers used a relentless and seemingly tireless full-court game to defeat the TigerScots 78-69 Tuesday in a Class 2A state subtournament game, ending Weston-McEwen’s season with a flurry of energy.

“I’ve just never played a game like that,” Weston-McEwen senior Alec Sheard said. “We’ve never played a team like that. They were just all over the ball.”

The Loggers will remain on the east side of the state and will play at Vale Friday, while the TigerScots finish 19-6 overall.

Knappa (14-14 overall) never stopped moving on offense or defense, maintaining a full-court press the entire game. As soon as Loggers got the ball, a rapid-fire offensive approach ensued.

Jimmy King, who shared Weston-McEwen leading scorer honors with Sheard with 15, said it has been a while since a team has come at the TigerScots the way Knappa did.

“Not since my freshman year,” King said. “That’s a lot of running.”

King led a fourth-quarter Weston-McEwen comeback, scoring seven fourth-quarter points, including a pull-up 3-pointer with 2:32 remaining. That basket put the TigerScots within three and capped an 8-1 run, but King fouled 13 seconds later and the comeback fizzled.

Knappa’s Sean Ferguson sealed the deal with a continuation bucket and the ensuing free throw, scoring what ended up being the final points of the game. Ferguson finished with 10, Derek Jacobson scored 15 and Curtis Olds scored 12.

The Loggers finished the game 15-of-29 from the free-throw line.

Knappa jumped on Weston-McEwen early, hitting 6-of-19 first-half 3-point attempts. The ones that didn’t fall landed in Logger hands many times after a long carom.

“Their rebounding was intense,” King said. “They hustled, flat-out hustled.”

Knappa coach Craig Cokley said his team may not be big, but it can fly to the ball.

“That’s something we’ve been doing well all year,” Cokley said. “For a small team, they’re really scrappy and really stay on task, staying on the ball until they get it.”

Knappa’s dominance on the boards continued even after its leading rebounder, Doug Graham, went to the bench early with three fouls.

Weston-McEwen coach Scott Pumphrey was less than pleased about his team’s rebounding fundamentals, and the words “box out” were continually screamed from the TigerScot bench.

Knappa scored 50 points in the first half, building a 14-point lead.

“We didn’t help ourselves by not blocking out and getting back on defense,” Weston-McEwen coach Scott Pumphrey said.

“It was a good season,” Sheard said. “We came out and played hard every game. It’s just not the way we wanted to go out.”

Should Knappa win Friday, the Loggers will open play at the state tournament in Pendleton at 8:15 p.m. Wednesday against the winner of the Oakland and Willamina contest.