Gallery by Heather Belcher
Whenever Beckley and Bluefield meet on the hardwood, no lead is ever safe.
That was the case again Monday afternoon when the longtime rivals met inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Leading by 20 in the first half and by 14 early in the final period, the Beavers had to survive a 23-point quarter from the home team to escape Beckley with a 55-52 win.
“We (committed) some turnovers there at the end, but we played very good today. We are very happy to get out of here with a win,” Bluefield head coach Buster Large said. “Good teams know how to find a way to get back in games. We battled early and got a comfortable lead and (thankfully) we were able to take care of business at the end.”
The visitors came ready to play and jumped on the Flying Eagles for a quick 9-0 lead.
An end-to-end drive from Elijah Redfern ended the Beckley drought, but back-to-back buckets from R.J. Hairston pushed the lead back to 11 points midway through the opening quarter.
“It was kind of disappointing the way we started out. It was our home game, but you would have thought it Bluefield’s gym the way they were playing,” Beckley head coach Ron Kidd said. “That first half, the way we played, it looked like we were sleepwalking.”
A 10-point lead after one quarter quickly went to 14 point on a bucket from Glen Keene and a wicked spin move in the lane from Kam’Ron Gore.
By the time the clock reach three minutes to play in the first half, Bluefield was rolling up 30-10.
The home team finally showed some life down the stretch however, closing on a 7-0 run to trail by 13 at the break.
In the opening quarter, Beckley made just three of its 16 field goal attempts and was empty from behind the arc on seven tries.
Kidd believed his team’s first half struggles were tied to Bluefield’s defense and his team being unable to knock down shots.
“It might have been a little bit of both. They were packing it in and not letting Redfern really do what he usually does,” Kidd said. “There were like five guys waiting on him. Our other players have to step up in situations and he has to find them too.”
Trailing by 15 points in the third quarter, Beckley cut the lead back to eight points, but when Caleb Fuller rattled home a 3-ball and scored on a layup the lead went back to 13 and stood at 41-29 with eight minutes to play.
Beckley looked like a different team over the final quarter led by Jaylon Walton who scored 13 of his game-high 17 points to lead the Flying Eagles to the brink of a wild comeback win.
“I think (Jaylon) was just taking it up to score and not worrying about them blocking his shot,” Kidd said. “We told him the whole game to just go at them like R.J. was going at us.”
With his team trailing 46-36, Walton began to take control in the paint scoring five in a row and the Beavers appeared to be reeling.
That was until Fuller, who is no stranger to nailing big shots, knocked down a critical 3-ball to slow the Beckley charge.
“Beckley had the edge in intensity at that point and they had the momentum,” Fuller said. “I knew we had to score right there. I got the hand-off and I saw it was open. I pulled up and fortunately it went in.”
Although it was not the actual game-winner, Kidd believed it could have been the ultimate difference maker down the stretch.
“That was a big shot right there. It is one of those shots where the coach is wondering what is he doing, but not Fuller. Fuller can shoot,” Kidd said. “He hits that shot and it’s maybe it’s the shot that wins the game for them.”
Walton scored again on the next trip, but undaunted by the moment, Gore went hard to the basket for another crucial score for the Beavers.
“There were some big shots down the stretch there. Caleb hit one, Gore hit one and R.J. got some big rebounds,” Large said. “We have some veteran ball players that find a way to win.”
Good ball movement by Bluefield yielded a Will Looney layup for a a six-point lead with 1:19 to play, but Beckley refused to go away.
Two free-throws from Redfern were answered by another score from Gore with a minute to play.
Eight seconds later, a Coby Dillon 3-pointer moved the Flying Eagles within three with 52 ticks left, but that was the final scoring of the game.
The home team had two good chances to tie down the stretch.
One chance came after forcing a 10-seconf half-court violation and the second after Bluefield missed the front-end of a 1-plus-1 with 15 seconds to play.
Playing the final possession in scramble mode, youth reared its head for Beckley at a bad time.
“We had our two guards, Coby and Zyon on the same side. Then Brayden ran on the same side,” Kidd said. “That is not the way we do it. I think it was a little bit of youth at that point and something we will have to go over again in practice.”
The win moves Bluefield’s record to 5-0 and sets up a Saturday showdown when it hosts Shady Spring at 4 p.m. in the Lil’ Tony Webster Basketball Classic at the Brushfork Armory.
“Will and R.J. played big today. Sencere played great. Kam’Ron did a good job on Redfern,” Fuller said. “We came up here and lost last year, so we know it is a tough place to play. They are a really good team. It was a hostile environment and luckily we were able to come out with a win.”
Beckley (2-3) plays PikeView Thursday at 8:30 p.m. in the New River CTC Tournament at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
Bl: 17 13 11 14 – 55
Be: 7 10 12 23 – 52
Bluefield
Kam’Ron Gore 11, Will Looney 8, Caleb Fuller 15, Glen Keene 5, Brandon Fong 2, R.J. Hairston 14. Totals: 24 4-8 55.
Beckley
Coby Dillon 9, Elijah Redfern 16, Zyon Hawthorne 5, Brayden Hawthorne 5, Jaylon Walton 17. Totals: 19 11-16 52.
3-pointers – Bl: 3 (Fuller 3); Be: 3 (Dillon 3).
