Ernie Gilliard is heading into year five at Bluefield and he’s hoping to find success reminiscent of that in his first year.
Since falling in the regional round in 2020, the Beavers have made four consecutive exits in the sectional opener. In their defense they share the three-team section with the two programs that played each other for the state championship last season in Summers County and Wyoming East.
Still the expectations don’t change.
“I think what we want to do is to make sure that we’re playing clean and crisp and solid basketball and be fundamentally sound situation wise,” Gilliard said. “And as we do that, if we can do that consistently, then I feel that we should be able to compete. Now I have three seniors there that have been with me for four years. I now have one of my young players, she’s a senior this year, that was with us and moved away to Virginia, and is now back from Virginia and she’s playing for me and that’s Nyasia Hanley. She’s very active, a great rebounder and runs the floor well. She may give us some scoring and some scoring punch and so I feel if we take care of the things that we’re going to try to do as a basketball team and take care of the ball, then I think we can be competitive with those two teams that are perennial powers.”
Hanley is one of the returners, but she’s not the only one.
“I have Cara Brown who has been with me for four years,” Gilliard said. “I have Ariana Dowell, another senior that’s been with me for four years and then there’s Desiray Jackson. Those young ladies have been improving constantly through the years and we expect this to be a breakout year for them. In terms of their individual performances and in terms of their ability to lead the team hopefully to having a great year.”
Gilliard has seen experience paying off for his seniors in the early going. They’re 1-1 to start the season but the growth has been evident.
“I think athleticism as a whole – mobility and quickness that would have to be our biggest strength right now. Last night, we had some kids start shooting the ball with some consistency the way I hoped and envisioned. And I guess it lets me know that the effort over the previous three years was well worth it. If we can continue to get better in making shots, taking care of that ball and defending then I think we could be a pleasant surprise.”
As for goals, the only one Gilliard has in place is to get better. Every team wants to win a state championship but if they work within the one goal he has set the rest will come.
“I want to take it one step at a time,” Gillaird said. “So I want to be the best team we can be in our so let’s start from that perspective. And if we have success there where we are the best team in our section, then I think those other things would definitely be seeable and doable.”