CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Sixth-seeded Ritchie County (11-7) made history by simply stepping onto the grounds of the Charleston Coliseum on Wednesday.

It was the first state tournament game in the history of the program.

The Rebels traveled to Charleston with a six-game winning streak and hopes of toppling seed Charleston Catholic.

County Ritchie made it a much more competitive game than many thought, especially with West Liberty signing Aiden Satterfield scoring 22 points in the first half for the Irish.

Charleston Catholic was just too much, winning a 68-58 victory to end Ritchie’s historic run.

“Well, I’d like to start and say I’m really proud of this group of kids. I told them… I would have a hard time with that, ”said head coach Rick Haught, while pushing back some emotion. “Excellent work from our children.”

Sophomore Ethan Haught led the way for the Rebels with 24 points and 8 rebounds. Senior guard Graden McKinney was the only other RCHS player to double in points, scoring 15.

McKinney and Haught combined to form seven 3-pointers in the game.

Ritchie County had a good shooting game, as a team, which most of the newer teams in the tournament don’t do when they start. The rebels shot 49 percent from the ground and 48 percent from the ground at 3 points.

“It was really different shooting those rims and there was never really anything in the background. It didn’t seem to bother me much. In the warm-ups I was still hitting shots and then it continued into the game, ”said Ethan Haught.

Haught collected 20 of his 24 points in the first half.