Gallery by Karen Akers
Wednesday night the play of the Woodrow Wilson boys basketball team was a recipe for disaster.
Streaky shooting, loose turnovers and poor work on the defensive glass put the Flying Eagles behind the eight-ball again when they welcomed longtime rival Bluefield inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Woodrow negated all of its struggles however, by turning to a staple of Beckley basketball – defense.
Trailing by as many as 12 points in the second quarter and 30-25 at halftime, the Flying Eagles outscored Bluefield 20-11 in the fourth quarter for a 51-47 victory.
“Our defense there in the fourth quarter created some turnovers and we got some easy shots. It was all effort and desire at the end,” Woodrow Wilson head coach Ron Kidd said. “Every time we made a little run tonight, we would do something crazy and lose our momentum. Give our kids credit though, they fought to the end and that is what it took. Bluefield is very scrappy and they are good team. They play defense, they hit the glass and they have some shooters.”
With 6:22 to play, the home team still trailed by four points after a bucket from Caleb Fuller who led Bluefield with 22 points in the game.
In the final six minutes, it was the ball pressure from the Flying Eagles that changed the momentum.
Sophomore guard, Elijah Redfern scored layups off a forced turnover and a steal from Keynan Cook. A trap from Cook and Redfern on the next possession created a loose ball. Diving to the floor, Redfern slapped the ball forward to Cook for a layup that tied the game at 42 all.
“We were getting out-rebounded and out-hustled really. We were down five going into the second half and we knew we had to come out fighting,” Redfern said. “Coach Kidd told us we had to hustle more and press. We were diving on the floor and getting steals. That is what brought us back.”
A free throw from Fuller put the Beavers back up one, but down the stretch Bluefield struggled to stop Redfern.
“We were struggling on offense to score. I knew we had to find a way to score and I had to help the team out. That is what it all came down to tonight,” Redfern said.
Isolating the defender, Redfern blew by him and pulled up for a jumper in the lane to give Beckley the lead at 44-43. It was the host’s first lead since midway through the first quarter.
“I thought Elijah turned the game around by making some plays for us,” Kidd said. “That is what he is, a play-maker. Thank God he did that tonight.”
Bluefield tied the game at 44-44, but missed foul shots and its inability to handle the Beckley pressure, doomed the Beavers.
“We haven’t found that final touch yet. We beat teams for three quarters, but just haven’t finished games,” Bluefield head coach Buster Large said. “The kids played hard, but give Beckley credit, they found a way to win. We just made some serious mistakes there with about three minutes to go. Once they got the momentum, we could never get it back.”
A runner in the lane by Cook and a nice up-and-under layup from Redfern helped Beckley pull away down the stretch.
Redfern scored a game-high 24 points for Beckley and Cook added nine. Maddex McMillen and Sam Peck had six points each.
Although Fuller scored 22 in the game, he was held to four points in the second half. Chance Johnson and Will Looney had eight each for the Beavers.
“The turnovers were the key tonight. You can’t turn the ball over against a good team,” Large lamented. “The first half they did and we capitalized. The second we turned it over and they capitalized. They deserved to win tonight.”
The win moved Woodrow Wilson to 2-0 for the first time since 2017. The Flying Eagles will look to make it three-in-a row when they battle Charleston Catholic Tuesday in the Little General Tournament.
Bluefield will host border rival Graham, Va. the same night.
B: 17 13 6 11 – 47
WW: 8 17 6 20 – 51
Bluefield 47
Steve Addair 2, Ja’eon Flack 1, Chance Johnson 8, Caleb Fuller 22, Will Looney 8, R.J. Hairston 6. Totals: 17 8-15 47.
Woodrow Wilson 51
Keynan Cook 9, Maddexx McMillen 6, Mike Miller 4, Sam Peck 6, Elijah Redfern 24, Caleb Gravely 2. Totals: 20 10-16 51.
3-pointers – 5 (Fuller 3, Looney 2); WW: 1 (Peck).
