Gallery by Greg Barnett
Princeton – Bluefield head coach Tony Webster has repeatedly noted his team has yet to put together four quarters and it’s part of why they entered Friday night with an 0-8 record.
His concerns were validated once again.
Leading 50-47 after three quarters, Bluefield watched Princeton rally with 21 points in the final frame, beating the Beavers 68-61 in Princeton.
Statistically both team were even with Princeton attempting 61 shots to Bluefield’s 62 with neither team turning the ball over more than 10 times.
But the method of scoring is what ultimately undid the Beavers.
Of their 62 shot attempts, 29 were from downtown. Princeton meanwhile fired 45 of its 61 from inside the arc, getting to the foul line where it shot 18 more free throws (23-5) than the Beavers.
“We gotta attack the rim a little bit more and get in there,” Bluefield head coach Tony Webster said. “We was getting some good looks (from 3) but I think we forced a few. We got some kids that can knock those down on a good night. Jase (Smith) normally knocks them down, Jack (Hurt), Ricky (Dunford) hit quite a few and I think if we don’t hit some of those 3s, we’re not in this game. 
I think those really allowed us to stay in the game. I think we’re a lot better than an 0-9 team, I really do believe that. I thought our effort tonight was pretty good. 
I really did. I thought we played hard, but we didn’t play four quarters. I think we played three good quarters and in the fourth quarter we gave up 21 points. That tells you all you need to know.”
The game played out like a track meet despite the Beavers battling foul trouble all evening. They opened by committing seven in the first and put the Tigers in the bonus in the third and fourth quarters as well.
Free throws proved to be the difference ultimately with the Beavers making 2 of 5 while Princeton netted 15 of 23.
“(Bluefield) shot the ball well,” Princeton head coach Robb Williams said. “Jase was way out there and we thought he would shoot a few, but he shot a little bit better than I expected. They were penetrating and kicking it out early. For us we were trying to pound it inside. That was the difference in the fouls. Daniel (Jennings), Jayce (Gum) and Zayden (Neely), we were getting the ball inside and they were just getting hammered. They were getting fouled. A lot of the fouls really did come from reach ins or hacks on rebounds for us.”
Despite the early foul trouble Bluefield never wavered, going shot for shot with the Tigers. The largest lead of the first three quarters belonged to the hosts who led 36-30 after a Wyatt Cline jumper, one trimmed by Smith who nailed a 3 before the half to cut Princeton’s advantage to 36-33 at the the half.
That trend carried over to third quarter where Britt Beasley reestablished a six-point advantage before Smith provided an immediate answer on the other end.
The junior’s onslaught continued later in the frame where his second 3 of the half tied the game at 41 before a pair of buckets by Davion Hickman and Ricky Dunford put the visitors up 45-43. A 5-0 charge to close the frame gave the Beavers a three-point advantage heading into the final frame but size and stamina came in to play.
Princeton won the rebounding battle 13-4 in the final frame, nailing 8 of 14 shots inside the arc. Daniel Jennings, who scored 10 of his 15 points in the second half, proved particularly troublesome for the Beavers.
His layup off a Brad Mossor offensive rebound proved to be the fifth and final lead change of the fourth quarter, staking the hosts to a 55-54 advantage. It sparked a 6-0 run that featured buckets from Mossor and Gum but each of Jennings’ three buckets in the fourth held weight. The following two reestablished a five-point lead each time, keeping the pressure on Bluefield.
The Beavers’ last gasp came when Smith nailed his final 3 of the night to cut the deficit to two with around two minutes to play but they failed to find the bottom of the net the rest of the way.
“We made a couple of substitutions to have more fresh legs in there to jump and rebound it which helped us,” Williams said. “Brad Mosser did a nice job at the end with a couple of big, big rebounds for a guard. Each time out I worked on the defensive end and I had my assistant coach Devon, my son, work on the offense and we really focused on pounding the ball inside, which we do all the time but we really do want to take advantage of our size.”
Smith led all scorers with 23 points on 9 of 21 shooting including 5 of 11 from 3.
Princeton placed four in double figures led by Beasley who netted 21. Joining him were Jennings (15), Gum (15) and Neely (11).
B: 18 15 17 11 – 61
P: 20 16 11 21 – 68
Bluefield
Davion Hickman 15, Jack Hurt 8, Ricky Dunford 13, Jase Smith 23, Greyson Parris 2
Princeton
Britt Beasley 21, Brad Mossor 4, Jayce Gum 15, Zayden Neely 11, Daniel Jennings 15, Wyatt Cline 2
