The song blaring from the speakers at halftime inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention was an old Molly Hatchet classic, “Flirtin’ With Disaster.”
Somehow the song seemed a bit apropos for Richwood after the opening half of basketball against Man in the New River CTC Invitational.
The defending Class A boys state champion Hillbillies looked every bit the part in the first half racing out to a 61-18 lead on their way to 106-48 win Wednesday night.
“They see what they can do in practice and they see what they can do out here when they want to. You just saw almost a complete game by them tonight,” Man head coach T.J. Blevins said. “I went in the locker room (at halftime) and there was nothing I could really say to them. They were running what we needed to run and they were hitting their outlets.”
Five 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game helped stake the high-powered Hillbillies to a 19-2 lead that ballooned to a 35-5 lead after the first eight minutes of action.
When Man wasn’t knocking the bottom out of the net from deep, the Hillbillies were turning defensive rebounds into layups on the other end.
At times it looked as if Man had eight players on the floor.
“Sometimes it looks that way. A lot of schemes I do in practice, I will put eight or nine blue (jerseys) against five red,” Blevins said. “I make them get open and work to get their shots. It is a drill that really pays off for us.”
The 61 points scored in the first half, was not the most points scored by the Hillbillies this week, let alone this season. Man scored 65 points in the first half Monday in a 90-36 win at Tolsia.
Man’s renewed focus came after a loss to rival Mingo Central on Dec. 30.
“We had a very bad game against Mingo (Central). Not taking anything away from them, they are ranked No. 9 in AA, but we came in a little over confident,” Blevins said. “We had two really good practices on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day for about three hours. I got after these guys and I think it lit a little fire under them. A lot of people don’t like my style of run-and-gun, but I got a lot of compliments last year.”
Playing in a building that has frustrated teams, the Hillbillies scorched the Armory nets last year and converted 16 long balls Wednesday night.
“I reminded them of that and I told them when we went to the Charleston Civic Center last year about how we shot in the Armory,” Blevins said. “I told them they would have no problem shooting in the Civic Center. I don’t know what it is, but these guys can stroke it. I have said it for years, for some reason we play better on the road. I really have fun with these guys. They are my dawgs as they say.”
Caleb Blevins led the Hillbillies with 26 points and Aden Martin scored 22. Trey Brown added 18, while Jordan Adams had 14 and Jeremiah Harless scored 12.
Brayden Spencer led the Lumberjacks with 18 and Cooper Donahue scored 12.
M: 35 26 22 23 – 106
R: 5 13 19 11 – 47
Man 106
Jeremiah Harless 12, Aden Martin 22, Jordan Adams 14, Trey Brown 18, Brady Hall-Montgomery 2, Zayden Sherod 5, Colton Miller 3, Jayson brown 2, Caleb Blevins 24. Totals 41 6-8 106.
Richwood 46
Cooper Donahue 12, Grant Russell 2, Josh Landreth 9, Brayden Spencer 18, Aiden Miller 5, Trey Stanley 2. Totals 19 2-5 46
3-pointers – M: 16 (Martin 6, Adams 2, Brown 2, Sherod, Miller, Blevins 4); R: 2 (Spencer, Miller).
