Gallery by Greg Barnett
Brushfork – In a battle of old adversaries Bluefield played the hits and came out on top.
Trailing by a point with under 20 seconds to go, the Beavers went to their press and trap philosophy, forcing a turnover that found the hands of Kam’Ron Gore who nailed a layup, capped a 3-point play and ultimately delivered Bluefield a 53-49 victory over Beckley Monday at the Brushfork Armory.
FINAL
Bluefield 53, Beckley 49
The Beavers come up with a steal down 1 and win the game. Here’s the And-1 bucket for Kam’Ron Gore that made the difference #wvprepbb pic.twitter.com/djsvtF7YZw— Tyler Jackson (@TJack94) February 14, 2023
Leading by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, the visiting Flying Eagles stormed back and never relented, taking the lead inside a minute to go and getting a stop but failure to take of the ball cost them in the end.
“We needed a steal and we got it,” Bluefield coach Buster Large said. “We were pressing and made a great play on the ball there at the end to take the lead. That’s what it’s all about – make a play to win the game.”
With the ball inbounded to Beckley’s all-state guard Elijah Redfern inside of 20 seconds, Redfern looked for an outlet when the defense came swarming but a deflection led to the winning points.
“They were running the trap at Elijah,” Beckley assistant coach Mike Fowlkes, whom head coach Ron Kidd deferred to for questions, said. “Zyon Hawthorne was open so he was trying to get rid of the ball before he got fouled. Zy was deep and his brother (Braydon), probably the only person in the state who’s got arms long enough to reach up there and touch the ball got it. Braydon thought the ball was coming to him and he jumped up and ended up tipping it and you know what happened after that.”
The disappointing finale for the the visitors came after an excellent defensive stop – a block by Braydon Hawthorne on Bluefield’s first attempt to take the lead – gave Beckley the ball with an opportunity to close it out at the line.
It was a far cry from where the game was seemingly headed early.
Leading 18-14 after the first quarter, Bluefield opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run to push the advantage to 11 points, its largest of the night just 65 seconds into the frame.
That prompted a Flying Eagles timeout that worked wonders.
The visitors held Beckley scoreless over the next 3:55, ripping an 8-0 run with 3s from Coby Dillon, Kellen Heffernan and a jumper from Elijah Redfern.
Will Looney snapped the skid at the three minute mark with a layup but a 3 and layup from the Hawthorne brothers made it a two-point contest at the break.
“We just told them to make the extra pass,” Fowlkes said of the timeout. “We didn’t want just one pass and a shot or no pass and a shot. Every time we made an extra pass we got great shots.”
The back-and-forth affair carried out through the second half with neither team leading by more than three points. Bluefield, up 48-47 with two minutes to go, ran offense to burn clock but a layup at the rim was turned away and Redfern capitalized with a layup that staked Beckley to a 49-48 advantage. Three fouls later, Gore came away with the steal and points that put Bluefield up 51-49, giving Beckley a chance to tie or take the lead. Opting for the tie, Redfern’s layup was just off the mark with under two seconds to go. Bluefield senior Caleb Fuller grabbed the rebound and nailed a pair of free throws to cement the win.
“I didn’t know if they’d go for the tie or win,” Large said. “I knew that we were up by two so I was hoping we’d get a stop and we did.”
Neither team shot the ball well with Bluefield firing at a 38 percent clip and Beckley at a 41 percent clip but the Beavers exhibited a penchant for getting to the line, shooting 17 free throws to Beckley’s seven.
“We knew coming in here it was going to be a good ball game,” Large said. “Beckley has a fine program and too much pride. They’re going to come over here and play hard.”
Gore finished with 17 points to pace Bluefield while Hairston added 14 and Fuller 13.
Redfern led all scorers with 20 points and was the only Flying Eagle to break double figures.
Email: tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
BEC: 14 13 14 8 – 49
BLFD: 18 11 14 10 – 53
Beckley
Coby Dillon 8, Elijah Redfern 20, Zion Hawthorne 9, Braydon Hawthorne 5, Kellen Heffernan 3, Jaylon Walton 4
Bluefield
Kam’Ron Gore 17, Will Looney 9, Club Fuller 13, RJ Hairston 14
3s – BECK: 5 (Dillon 2, Z. Hawthorne 1, B. Hawthorne 1, Heffernan 1); Bluefield – 4 (Gore 3, Fuller 1)
