Gallery by Heather BelcherĀ
Every coach admits that it’s hard to beat a quality team three times in the same season.
Wednesday night when Beckley hosted South Charleston in the Class AAAA Region 3 co-final, the Flying Eagles proved that old adage to once again be true.
After dropping the two regular season contests to the Black Eagles, Beckley was victorious in the meeting that mattered the most.
Powered by 21 points from senior Keanti Thompson, who did not play in either of the first two games, and 16 from Abby Dillon, the Flying Eagles blitzed South Charleston, 65-40.
With the win, Beckley advances to the state tournament next week as the No. 6 seed and will meet No. 3 Spring Valley, Tuesday morning at 9:30 a.m. inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
“I can’t describe this feeling really. I am just overjoyed and thankful to the Most High for putting me in position to work with good kids. Kids that want to work hard and are dedicated and willing to put up with a coach like me,” Beckley head coach Brian Nabors said. “We work them hard and I know it is tough and a challenge. I am thankful that they are willing to commit to the things that we want them to do. I am really happy for the girls and happy that they get to experience Charleston.”
Never trailing in the game, Beckley exploded on a 13-0 run late in the first quarter to take control of the game.
“The whole day, even at school, we were locked in. We had our mind on one thing. Our main goal was on the defensive end because defense turns into buckets,” Dillon said. “We tried to stay locked in all game. We knew our common goal was to get to the state tournament and we achieved that.”
Both teams struggled early to find the mark, but when Lataja Creasey drilled a straightaway 3-pointer, the dam broke for the Flying Eagles.
A driving score from Thompson was followed by a triple from Dillon. A floater from Thompson and another deep bomb from Creasey capped the run for a 15-2 lead that was 17-6 after one quarter.
“We executed on the offesnive end tonight. I saw some dynamic plays where they just read the defense,” Nabors said. “We told them all year that it would happen if they just stuck with it and trusted their teammates. Defensively we made some great plays. Overall, it was a great team effort.”
South Charleston made its first run at Beckley in the second quarter, cutting the lead back to two points on two separate occasions.
A quick timeout from Nabors changed the momentum back in favor of the home squad.
“When they made that run, I called a timeout and about blew a blood vessel, but they responded,” Nabors said. “This team is showing signs of resilience. I think some of those close losses early in the year has really helped us down the stretch.”
A pull-up 3-ball from Thompson ignited a 12-0 run to close the half and Beckley led 34-20 at the break.
Thompson accounted for seven points in the run, while freshman Donya Burton had a huge stickback and Dillon hit a jumper to cap the burst.
“Donya did an excellent job just keeping the ball alive. It helped us get extra possessions,” Nabors said. “Our defense wore them down, but getting those extra possessions, I thought that help wear them down as well.”
South Charleston head coach Karley Walker also pointed to the extra possessions as one of the two factors that hurt her team Wednesday.
“The difference tonight was that we gave up a lot of second chance opportunities with turnovers and offensive rebounds. We didn’t box out well tonight,” Walker said. “We also had way too many turnovers to stay in the game with an aggressive (Beckley) defense. We knew they were going to come in and battle. We knew they were going to push the ball. Two of our key points were to keep them off the boards and don’t turn the ball over. Those two things hurt us.”
The visitors trimmed the lead to nine points with 1:55 to play, but a couple of buckets from Thompson quickly pushed the lead back to double digits.
“Our mindset was no easy looks. That is why I lost my mind early in the game where they got too many easy looks. You can’t give a team like South Charleston easy looks,” Nabors said. “They will burn you and they burned us a couple of times. We stayed the course and pulled the win out.”
After a stick back from Josie Cross gave Beckley a 49-34 lead. the Flying Eagles slammed the door with 10 straight points to put the game out of reach.
Burton started the run with a score off of an offensive rebound which was followed by a layup from Thompson.
Another offensive board from Thompson was kicked out to Dillon for a backbreaking 3-pointer before Burton turned a steal into a coast-to-coast layup.
“I think our attitude tonight was the difference. We had the attitude of never say die,” Nabors said. “We said we weren’t going to look back regardless of the situation.”
While Thompson’s points were a big factor in the win, the senior standout did much more than just score.
“She makes them completely different team. She makes them about five times faster than they were because they can go with a smaller quicker lineup,” Walker explained. “She is just a great player. I am happy to see her back on the court. She belongs out there and she has a bright future with basketball. She is shifty. She can shoot. She can take it to the hole. She can do it all.”
“I am really happy and excited that we are going back to states,” the soft-spoken senior said. “I felt like we could do it. I just had to step up for my team at those key times tonight.”
SC: 6 14 14 16 – 40
B: 17 17 12 19 – 65
South Charleston
Desire’e Thomas 4, Kyra Brown 8, Natalie Smith 15, Jateayah Davis 2, Kyleigh Bulger 6, Mya Toombs 5. Totals: 13 9-15 40.
Beckley
Abby Dillon 16, Josie Cross 8, Lataja Creasey 10, Keanti Thompson 21, Taylor Gunter 2, Donya Burton 8. Totals: 24 10-16 65.