The names and the faces have changed over the years. The excitement and the intensity has stayed the same.
When the Beckley and Oak Hill boys basketball teams mix it up, fans get their money’s worth.
Thursday night was no different at the Little General Battle for the Armory.
Surviving a barrage of 14 made 3-pointers from its Fayette County rival, Beckley erased a 10-point second quarter deficit for a wild 66-64 win.
The victory places the Flying Eagles in the championship game of the Burger King Division against county rival Shady Spring Friday night at 8 p.m.
“I hope it was a pleasing game for the crowd,” veteran Beckley head coach Ron Kidd said. “Whichever team had the ball last was going to win. It was just fortunate that we had the ball last. We did the right things at the right time.”
Oak Hill came out on fire from behind the arc and never trailed in the first half, but could not shake the Flying Eagles
Beckley evened the game at 33-33 with just over three minutes to play in the half thanks to long balls from Coby Dillon and Drew Fitzwater.
The Red Devils did not blink, however and responded with a 10-0 burst sparked by five points from Trevor Kelly, a triple from Armonyi Hicks and a deuce from Malachi Lewis.
When the halftime horn sounded, Oak Hill held a 43-35 lead and was 11-for-16 from behind the arc.
“They could have blown us out of the building in the first half. We knew that Trevor and Malachi could score, but we didn’t expect the other kids to shoot the ball that well,” Kidd said. “That is a credit to their coaching staff, just having their kids ready to play.”
Kidd also knew that changes had to be made for the second half.
“(Assistant) coach (James) Lewis and (assistant) coach (Eric) Dillon really got on our kids telling them they had to get up on them a little closer than what we were,” Kidd explained. “We were letting them shoot wide open shots. Our close-outs were bad. I give them credit for challenging our kids to play better (defense). I thought in the second half, we did that.”
Trailing by nine points early in the third period, Beckley amped up the defense which led to a 14-0 run.
A spin move in the lane at the 2:23 mark, followed by a left-hand layup from Dillon became a traditional 3-point play to give Flying Eagles its first lead of the night.
Dillon followed that up with a corner-three off an assist from Zyon Hawthorne for a 50-45 lead and Beckley appeared to be pulling away.
“That game was a whole lot closer than we wanted it, but that was a good win tonight. They had hit 11 threes (in the first half) and we realized we had to get out there on them,” Dillon said. “They only attempted nine in the second half, so we did a better job closing out on them. We were just letting them stand out there and shoot and they were hitting them.”
After being limited in the quarter, Oak Hill finally hit a pair of triples down the stretch to tie the game at 51-apiece with eight minutes to play.
“I think for the first time offensively, especially in the first half, we looked like who I think we can be,” Oak Hill head coach Benitez Jackson said. “I felt like we could be a good shooting team this year. I hate losing, but overall we showed the team we can be. We just have to be more consistent.”
Nine points from Levi Kiszka helped Oak Hill build a three-point lead with 3:13 to play before 3-pointers from Hawthorne and Preston Clary put Beckley in front 63-60 with just over two minutes to play.
After missing his first five attempts from behind the arc Thursday, Clary stepped into the crucial 3-pointer with confidence.
Playing without senior leader Elijah Redfern, who is out with a hand injury, Beckley’s young stars rose to the occasion down the stretch.
“They are young pups, but they all have to turn into dogs real quick. They were steady. They could have folded when Oak Hill hit all of those 3’s, but they showed some toughness,” Kidd said. “That is what is good about them. I think Preston missed a shot right before that, but he didn’t let that worry him. He took that big shot when he was open. He also got some big rebounds for us.”
Drives by Lewis and Armonyi Hicks tied the game with 15 second left, but a late foul up top put Hawthorne at the line. The young sophomore knocked down the first shot before a lane violation gave Oak Hill the ball with 1.7 seconds on the clock.
The in-bounds pass was errant and Dillon cashed in one of two free-throws for the final margin.
“Our ball movement was a lot better. We still had some untimely turnovers, but I felt like we handled the pressure a lot better than how we handled it earlier in the season so far,” Jackson said. “I thought Armonyi played well and Levi Kiszka played really well for us today. Andre (Wright) played well off the bench and Trevor played the best he has played all year. We got contributions from guys that will help us. I need to do a better job with our situational stuff to make sure we are getting the right shots and covering the right people. We will just keep plugging away.”
Dillon led the Flying Eagles with 22 points, while Hawthorne added 17 points and had seven assists. Jaylon Walton scored 10 points and had seven rebounds.
Kelly led the Red Devils with 16 points and nine rebounds. Kiszka netted 15 and Lewis had 14 points.
Beckley now turns its attention to the championship matchup with the Tigers who have had their number for several years now.
“It is a big one,” Dillon said. “Shady has a good ball team. We will give them a fight and we will go at them for sure.”