Gallery by Tina Laney
Since the untimely injury to all-state guard Elijah Redfern, Beckley has struggled to find its footing.
Coming off a solid road win Tuesday over Capital, the “Baby Birds” sunk their talons into sectional rival Princeton Thursday night.
Never trailing in the contest, the Flying Eagles took charge early and steamrolled the Tigers 66-33 inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
“Just give our coaches credit for having the kids ready to play. We had a good practice yesterday and a good shootaround today. With our kids it is about getting our minds right and then going out and getting it done,” Beckley head coach Ron Kidd said. “Our kids came ready to play. We have struggled with Princeton lately, so the game meant something to us. We felt like we had something to prove.”
Beckley fired the first and maybe the most important shot on the opening possession by going immediately inside to Jaylon Walton for a layup.
“We have talked about being aggressive. We want to start out inside because we feel like we have some big guys,” Kidd said. “We just need them to get more aggressive. Tonight they were a little bit more aggressive.”
Walton tallied eight of his 11 points on the night in the opening quarter and more importantly helped free up the perimeter for Beckley.
“We feel like that is the type of player that Jaylon is and that is the type of player we need him to be to win games,” Kidd said. “Sometimes we feel like he doesn’t realize he can be that type of player. I thought tonight he showed what he can do, but we also feel like he can be even better.”
With Walton punishing the Tigers inside, sophomore Coby Dillon was running loose on the perimeter where he hit two long balls to help Beckley jump out to an 18-6 lead after one quarter.
Princeton showed some life to start the second period trimming the lead to seven points, but over the final six minutes of the quarter, it was all Beckley.
Buckets from Nazir King and Drew Fitzwater were followed by a corner triple from Preston Clary to build a 26-12 lead.
Nick Fleming snapped the run with a score at the three minute mark, but it was the final score of the half for the Tigers.
Clary drilled another 3-pointer which preceded two straight buckets inside the arc from Dillon for a 33-14 lead at the break.
“We did a good job of finding the open man. I think they were saying, one more, one more (pass), looking and finding that open guy,” Kidd said. “They were thinking I might have a good shot, but somebody else will have a great shot. I thought we did that and moved the ball well tonight.”
Beckley’s lead ballooned to 24 points early in the third quarter before Princeton shifted to a box-and-1 on Dillon and finally found a couple of open looks on the offensive end of the floor.
A score from Koen Sartin and long balls from Gavin Stover and Gavin Brown cut the lead back to 16 points, but Tigers could get no closer.
Princeton assistant head coach Brett Tolliver filled in for head man Robb Williams who was out of town Thursday. Tolliver felt the early struggles, hurt his team going forward.
“I think early on we had some open looks from outside the arc, but they didn’t fall. Once we saw the ball not go in the hole, it was like we got away from who we are,” Tolliver said. “We tried to force some things that weren’t there and credit (Beckley). I thought they played pretty good defense. We didn’t have many open looks after that first quarter really.”
Leading by 16 points heading to the final quarter, Beckley grabbed the momentum with a score from Zyon Hawthorne who riddled Princeton getting in the paint and another stickback from Fitzwater who finished with eight points.
“Drew did an awesome job scoring on those second shots tonight. He played good defense and rebounded for us,” Kidd said. “I also thought (Nazir) played good tonight and Phil (Law) was aggressive. We just have to get Phil scoring for us.”
Fleming once again stemmed the tide for Princeton, but over the next five minutes, Beckley ran off 17 straight points to put the game on ice.
“I thought our defense was what it needed to be, but we are always looking to get better,” Kidd said. “Princeton has some guys that can play and shoot the ball. Our guys did a good job of getting up on them where they couldn’t get open looks.”
Dillon finished the night with 18 points, while Clary added 11 points and Hawthorne ended with nine.
“They went hard tonight and that is the way they have to play each game,” Kidd said. “They are still young and there will still be some growing pains, but if they continue to play hard, we feel like good things can happen.”
Next up for Beckley is a home game Saturday at 4 p.m. against regional nemesis George Washington.
“Anytime you meet GW, it’s tough. (Head coach) Rick Greene is in the Armory more than we are scouting teams,” Kidd said with a chuckle. “It will be a good battle because they are always well-coached. We have to get our kids once again in the right mindset. GW is good, but we are getting better. We can be very good too, but our kids just have to realize that.”
P: 6 8 15 4 – 33
B: 18 15 12 31 – 66
Princeton
Nick Fleming 4, Gavin Stover 6, Gavin Brown 3, Britt Beasley 3, Marquel Lowe 1, Koen Sartin 9, Zayden Neely 7. Totals: 13 2-4 33.
Beckley
Coby Dillon 18, Zyon Hawthorne 9 A.J. Kidd 4, Preston Clary 11, Nazir King 5, Drew Fitzwater 8. Jaylon Walton 11. Totals: 26 6-9 66.
