The boys basketball team defeated the Blair Blazers 66-51 Wednesday evening to move on and play in the regional championship Saturday against Clarksburg.

Whitman and Blair had met once during the regular season, a 45-43 victory for Whitman.

The Vikings offense outpaced Blair from the start. By the end of the first quarter the Vikings were leading 14-9, and by halftime Whitman had a 35-27 lead.

The Vikings ran a 3-2 zone defense during the first half that struggled to cover all of Blair’s shooting threats.

“During the first half our defense wasn’t as good as it could have been,” forward and captain George Wilson said. “Their guard Jared Williams was sinking a lot of threes and was a really big threat, so we adapted our defense to really challenge him.”

During the second half, the Viking offense dug in and outscored the Blazers in both quarters.

“We came back from halftime with a huge energy boost which let us control the rest of the game,” Wilson said.

Whitman’s offense was again led by forward Shaq Diboti-Lobe, who totaled 28 points, as well as by forward Max Oppenheim, who scored 17 points.

Whitman now faces the Clarksburg Coyotes 1:00 PM Saturday at Blair in the regional championship.