After placing fourth in the 1A East Regional Tournament, the Mathews High School varsity boys’ basketball team will travel across the state on Friday for the first round of the VHSL state tournament.

Mathews will take on Radford, the top-seeded team from the 1A West Region bracket, at 6:30 p.m. at Virginia High School in Bristol. Friday’s winner will face either Lancaster or Honaker in Saturday’s semifinals, also at Virginia High School. The state championship game will be played the following Thursday, March 9, at the VCU Siegel Center in Richmond.

The Blue Devils earned a bid in the state tournament after winning the opening round of the 1A East Regional last Tuesday, Feb. 22. In front of a home crowd, Mathews beat Riverheads, 62-43. Mathews then traveled to Cumberland last Thursday for the regional semifinal game, where the Blue Devils lost to the Lancaster Red Devils, 78-45. In Saturday’s consolation game, also at Cumberland, Mathews fell to Altavista, 77-...