Wednesday night inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, the scene was not what many had anticipated when Woodrow Wilson took the floor.
Neither was the ultimate result of the Flying Eagles battle with Cabell Midland.
Sitting on the visiting bench and playing in the consolation game of the Burger King Division in the Little General Battle for the Armory, Woodrow could not match the tough, physical play of the Knights.
Paced by 29 points from all-stater Chandler Schmidt, Cabell Midland handed the Flying Eagles their second consecutive loss in as many games, 70-55.
After a poor performance by his team in a loss to Shady Spring Tuesday, Cabell Midland head coach J.J. Martin was pleased with his team’s effort.
“From yesterday to today was a lot better. It wasn’t a good representation of us yesterday. We didn’t play very tough,” Martin said. “We lost the rebounding battle by 20 yesterday, but tonight I thought we were the more physical and more aggressive team.”
The Knights bested Woodrow on the boards, 32-21, but the glaring statistic was Midland’s 12 offesnive rebounds and a 34-18 edge on points in the paint.
“We are a little undersized, so I told our guys that we have to be tough, strong and play together,” Martin said. “I thought we did that and I was impressed with my guys today.”
Scoring did not come easy on either side in the first half with Woodrow holding a 21-20 edge at the break.
The Flying Eagles increased that lead to four points in the first two minutes of the third period before the Knights exploded on an 18-2 run.
“We gave up too many in that spurt in the third quarter. They scored on 11 straight possessions,” Woodrow Wilson head coach Ron Kidd said. “That is just no defense on our part. The key to defense is toughness. They showed more toughness than we did during that stretch.”
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Cooper Gibson gave Midland the lead and seven straight from Chandler Schmidt capped the burst for a 40-28 advantage.
“We definitely needed to hit some shots. During that stretch and Cooper Gibson hit some big 3’s that really pushed us to the next level,” Martin said.
Woodrow would get the game to within single digits just once the remainder of the way.
Gibson and Dominic Schmidt added 12 points apiece for the Knights and Jackson Fetty scored eight. In the second half, Midland shot 72 percent from the field.
“We only had two guys score in double digits yesterday and that was it. I thought today we played more as a team with guys running the floor and getting open,” Martin said. “Overall, I just thought we were tougher today. On our board today, it was not about scoring. It was about the little things. If we did those things we would be good.”
Elijah Redfern led Woodrow with 15, while Keynan Cook and Brayden Hawthorne scored 12 each. Sam Peck had 10 for the Flying Eagles.
Although his team had to play without senior standout Maddex McMillen due to an injury, Kidd was not pleased with his team for the second night in a row.
“One time, two of our guys had the ball and they just came and ripped it our hands. That is a sign of our toughness right there,” Kidd said. “People that played for us know how we like defense and this is discouraging. I apologize to all the former players that came to watch. This is not how we teach our defense.”
WW: 7 14 14 20 – 55
CM: 6 14 25 25 – 70
Woodrow Wilson 55
Keynan Cook 12, Elijah Redfern 15, Brayden Hawthorne 12, Sam Peck 10, Mike Miller 2, Landyn Wolfe 2, Caleb Gravely 2. Totals: 20-50 8-9 55.
Cabell Midland 70
Cooper Gibson 12, Dominic Schmidt 12, Tevin Taylor 2, Chandler Schmidt 29, Jackson Fetty 8, Aiden Cottrell 3, Kyle Frost 4. Totals: 25-50 14-16 70.
