Gallery by Heather Belcher
Success on the hardwood always comes easier with a little help from your friends.
The past three games, Beckley has made a habit out of distributing over 20 assists per outing.
Naturally, the wins have followed.
Friday night in the Class AAAA Region 3, Section 2 championship game inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center, the Flying Eagles were once again in a giving mood.
Recording 21 assists on 35 made baskets, Beckley knocked down 13 long balls to torch long-time rival Princeton 88-60.
“I think the key to our team is being connected. It’s a mindset. The way we are moving the ball and finding the open guy, I think that has been the difference with this late run that we have had. We are playing together and being together.
Beckley trailed 2-0 and 4-3 before a conventional three-point play from all-stater Elijah Redfern put the home team in front for good.
Coby Dillon’s second 3-pointer of the quarter and a corner triple from Preston Clary put Beckley up eight points.
The Flying Eagles made six 3-pointers in the quarter and when Zyon Hawthorne drove across the lane uncontested for a score to beat the buzzer, Beckley led 29-20.
“Defensively, we weren’t ready to play. I think they had (six) 3s in the first quarter. We really contested one of them,” Princeton head coach Robb Williams said. “We worked on that and talked about that all day and all week in practice. We know what they have. We have played them many times and we know their players. Offensively we were (alright). I was actually happy with our offense. You can always do some things better, but defensively we weren’t there.”
Five straight points from Koen Sartin trimmed the deficit to four points, but the Tigers really had no answers on defense.
Long balls from Redfern and Hawthorne built the advantage quickly back to 10 points which the home squad pushed to 13 at the break.
“We cut it to four at one time, then I think we had a turnover. We hadn’t struggled against any press all year. They really didn’t press, but they jumped it and we acted like we weren’t there. It wasn’t like we weren’t prepared for it. We just didn’t respond,” Williams lamented.
Williams was not the only head coach that was unhappy with his team’s defensive effort in the first 16 minutes of play.
“I thought in the first half our offense was on, but when we came up at halftime, we felt like our defense wasn’t on,” Beckley head coach Ron Kidd said. “We thought we could do better on the defensive end. Fifty points is the most we have scored in the first half. Just think if our defense would have been on with our offense. We wanted our defense to be better at the time.”
Coming out of the locker room, Beckley responded and applied the knockout blow to its Mercer County rival.
A quick give-and-go between Jaylon Walton and Hawthorne led to an easy bucket before Walton scored again inside 30 seconds later.
A pair of free throws from Dillon, followed by a hard take from Redfern and another score across the lane by Hawthorne set the table for an upcoming explosion.
Following a forced turnover, Hawthorne pitched the ball forward on a run out to Redfern who slammed it home, much the pleasure of the raucous Beckley student section.
“I thought we were better in the third quarter. I thought we got down and really guarded them,” Kidd said. “The thing was rebounding. We only gave them one shot. I thought that was the difference in the game, the rebounding.”
A pair of free throws halted the 12-0 run, but the Flying Eagles were far from done in the third period.
Clary canned a triple before Nazir King scored inside off of an assist from Redfern.
Another forced turnover found its way into the hands of Dillon who tossed it ahead for another slam from Redfern and another explosion from the Beckley crowd.
“I was worried (only up 13) with the way they were shooting the ball and I didn’t think we were playing good enough (defense) on them,” Kidd admitted. “We were letting them shoot wide-open shots. That run helped us right there and broke their spirit a little bit. That first half, they were hitting shots.”
The first Princeton basket of the third period did not come until 1:33 to play in the quarter. When the stanza came to a close, Beckley led 74-44.
“We have played a much better zone than we did tonight. We went to a box-and-1 and we couldn’t play that. We went to man and we couldn’t play that. We extended a different zone and we couldn’t play that,” Williams said. “Defensively, we just weren’t there tonight. That was the difference in the game.”
The win for the Flying Eagles secured its 82nd sectional title and was its fourth win in a row. The last time Beckley won four games in a row was 2021 which, coincidentally, was the last time the Flying Eagles made the state tournament.
Both teams advance to regional play next Thursday. For its part, Princeton will travel to battle red-hot South Charleston.
“It didn’t matter win or lose, we were going to have a tough (regional) game. You want to win any game, but the only difference is we have to travel,” Williams said. “We beat them at Princeton this year. A great win for us. If we play the way we are capable of, we can still make it up state. If we play like we did tonight and don’t have the defensive intensity, it will be a long night for us down there too.”
To punch their ticket to the big dance, the Flying Eagles will have to solve the mystery that is George Washington. The Patriots have won five in a row over Beckley and also took both regular season match-ups.
“They have kind of had our number and they have our number right now. Our kids know that and it should be a pride thing. We want to change that,” Kidd said. “We want to punch our ticket. They are in our way of making it down to the state tournament. We have to win that game to get there. We have to play and get ready for them.”
Both Region 3 co-final games will start at 7 p.m.
P: 20 17 7 16 – 60
B: 29 21 24 17 – 88
Princeton
Nic Fleming 9, Gavin Stover 6, Gavin Brown 9, Britt Beasley 4, Marquel Lowe 7, Kalum Kiser 1, Koen Sartin 14, Zayden Neely 10. Totals: 22 8-15 60.
Beckley
Coby Dillon 13, Elijah Redfern 23, Zyon Hawthorne 16, A.J. Thomas 6, Preston Clary 12, Nazir King 4, Drew Fitzwater 2, Lucas Raney 4, Jaylon Walton 8. Totals: 35 5-8 88.
