Even with four freshmen on the floor for much of the second half, Wheeling Jesuit looked like the more poised, experienced bunch.

In an upset that ranks with the West Virginia Conference tournament's most startling ever, the No. 9 Cardinals dominated down the stretch and knocked off No. 1 West Virginia State 84-75 in Thursday night's quarterfinals at the Charleston Civic Center. A quiet crowd of 1,200 attended.

Two months ago in Institute, the Yellow Jackets breezed to a 112-76 victory over the Cardinals.

State was the first No. 1 seed to lose in the tournament quarterfinals since Salem-Teikyo was upset by Shepherd in 1997.

The loss ended the Jackets' 18-game winning streak and dashed their hopes of serving as host school for the eight-team Division II Atlantic Region tournament, which begins March 14 at the home of the region's No. 1-ranked school. 

"It was just a bad, bad, bad performance,'' said State coach Bryan Poore. "And it's sad that it happened here. That's as disappointing a performance that I've had to endure in quite some time.''

Despite the loss, State (24-5) is almost assured of earning an at-large bid to the regional tournament, WVC associate commissioner Will Prewitt said after the game.

The Cardinals (14-15), who used six freshmen on the night, move to today's 8:30 p.m. semifinals against Pitt Johnstown.

The Cardinals trailed for most of the first half and were down nine early in the second half against a high-scoring and veteran State team that seemed on the verge of breaking things open.

But the Cardinals began chipping away and grabbed a 67-57 lead with 3:05 left in the game on successive baskets by freshman Cedric Harris, junior Greg Andrews, freshman Pete Brogdon, freshman Marquis Moore and freshman Steve Catich.

They eventually led by as many as 14 points at 77-63 with 37 seconds remaining. The Yellow Jackets then hit three quick 3s - two by Jason Emerson and one by Wade Pidock - to trim the lead to 78-72 with 21.9 seconds remaining.

Wheeling Jesuit, however, sealed the upset with free throws and finished 25-for-32 at the line.

"Wheeling deserved to win the game,'' said Poore. "I mean they outplayed us in every phase. Every phase, you name it - outcoached, outplayed, outrebounded, outshot, out free-throwed, out 3-pointed, outhustled, outeverything. We were tentative. We didn't start out on the right foot, and we weren't aggressive. Give Wheeling credit. They were the aggressor. I felt it. I had bad karma all day. I had things that were out of the ordinary that were not in our routine.''

Even with four freshmen on the floor for much of the second half, Wheeling Jesuit looked like the more poised, experienced bunch.

In an upset that ranks with the West Virginia Conference tournament's most startling ever, the No. 9 Cardinals dominated down the stretch and knocked off No. 1 West Virginia State 84-75 in Thursday night's quarterfinals at the Charleston Civic Center. A quiet crowd of 1,200 attended.

Two months ago in Institute, the Yellow Jackets breezed to a 112-76 victory over the Cardinals.

State was the first No. 1 seed to lose in the tournament quarterfinals since Salem-Teikyo was upset by Shepherd in 1997.

The loss ended the Jackets' 18-game winning streak and dashed their hopes of serving as host school for the eight-team Division II Atlantic Region tournament, which begins March 14 at the home of the region's No. 1-ranked school. 

"It was just a bad, bad, bad performance,'' said State coach Bryan Poore. "And it's sad that it happened here. That's as disappointing a performance that I've had to endure in quite some time.''

Despite the loss, State (24-5) is almost assured of earning an at-large bid to the regional tournament, WVC associate commissioner Will Prewitt said after the game.

The Cardinals (14-15), who used six freshmen on the night, move to today's 8:30 p.m. semifinals against Pitt Johnstown.

The Cardinals trailed for most of the first half and were down nine early in the second half against a high-scoring and veteran State team that seemed on the verge of breaking things open.

But the Cardinals began chipping away and grabbed a 67-57 lead with 3:05 left in the game on successive baskets by freshman Cedric Harris, junior Greg Andrews, freshman Pete Brogdon, freshman Marquis Moore and freshman Steve Catich.

They eventually led by as many as 14 points at 77-63 with 37 seconds remaining. The Yellow Jackets then hit three quick 3s - two by Jason Emerson and one by Wade Pidock - to trim the lead to 78-72 with 21.9 seconds remaining.

Wheeling Jesuit, however, sealed the upset with free throws and finished 25-for-32 at the line.

"Wheeling deserved to win the game,'' said Poore. "I mean they outplayed us in every phase. Every phase, you name it - outcoached, outplayed, outrebounded, outshot, out free-throwed, out 3-pointed, outhustled, outeverything. We were tentative. We didn't start out on the right foot, and we weren't aggressive. Give Wheeling credit. They were the aggressor. I felt it. I had bad karma all day. I had things that were out of the ordinary that were not in our routine.''

State senior Ted Scott agreed. "As coach said, we got kind of tentative and started trying to guide the ball in instead of relaxing,'' he said.

The expectations that come with a regular-season championship and a lengthy winning streak may have contributed to State's poor play, Scott added. 

"When you have a streak, you're going to think about it,'' he said. "You don't want to, but you're going to think about it. I don't know if that was on our minds tonight, but we just didn't play State basketball at all. As coach said, we played kind of selfish.''

For the game, Wheeling Jesuit shot 53.1 percent (26-of-49), including 66.7 percent in the second half. State shot just 36.7 percent (29-for-79), including 31 percent (13-for-42) from 3-point distance.

"We were 13-for-42 from 3, and that's terrible,'' said Poore. "It was too many of them, and it's not a good percentage. And even when we were shooting 3s, we didn't have guys with the energy to go crash and rebound.''

Wheeling Jesuit coach Danny Sancomb said his team has come a long way since the 36-point loss to State in early January. 

"We're a young team, and we looked a little young at times, but these guys have developed and we just continued to get better all year,'' said Sancomb. "We went to West Virginia State, and they pummeled us. But we're a different team. Our guys have grown up. They've worked really hard. They've done everything we asked of them.''

Harris led the Cardinals with 20 points, Catich added 19 and senior Maqsood Harrington added 14, including four free throws in the final minute. Pidock led State with 17 points, Ricky Jackson had 16 and Scott 15.

Wheeling Jesuit, which lost five of its final eight regular-season games, hurried out to a 10-5 advantage. State eventually took the lead at 20-17 on Pidock's 3-pointer with 11:06 left, but the Cardinals stayed competitive, three times cutting the State lead to one. At the half, the Jackets led 39-34 but shot just 39.5 percent (15-for-38).

Pidock, who did not start, gave the Jackets an offensive lift off the bench, hitting his first three shots - two 3-pointers and a 2 - to help State move in front. 

State had not lost since dropping a 77-73 decision at Shepherd Jan. 7.

The role of host goes to the school that earns the No. 1 spot in the final Atlantic Region ranking. State currently sits at No. 4. Alderson-Broaddus, the only other WVC school with a regional ranking, is No. 6.

Reach Mike Whiteford at 304-348-7948 or mikewhitef...@wvgazette.com.