Gallery by Greg BarnettĀ
Brushfork – After a rough night against Class AAA No. 2 Shady Spring on Monday, PikeView had little time to digest that loss, traveling to Class AA No. 1 Bluefield for a Tuesday night showdown.
The Panthers were once again denied on multiple fronts.
Bluefield all-stater blocked five shots and dunked the ball five times, scoring a game-high 23 points to lead the Beavers to a 62-43 victory over the Panthers at the Brushfork Armory.
Hairston’s slams were the most efficient shots as the Beavers struggled from the field, connecting on 28 of 73 shot attempts (38 percent) and converting on just 14 percent (4 of 28) of their 30-point attempts.
But the difference came on defense with the Beavers forcing 19 PikeView turnovers, 17 of them coming on Bluefield steals.
“We talked at halftime that we had to step it up, and we did,” Bluefield head coach Buster Large said. “We came out and got running and got a few shots to go. We played four games last week, we could have been a little bit tired. But hopefully, Friday we’ll rebound and be fresh for Princeton. But I’m real proud of these kids. We’re 14-4 and they’ve worked their way up to number one in the state so there’s lots of good things happening.”
The Beavers’ shooting woes appeared early Tuesday as they made just one of their first five shots and made just 5 of 15 attempts in the first quarter. The six turnovers committed by PikeView coupled with a 25 percent mark (3 of 12) from the field in the opening frame did little to help the visitors build a cushion as Bluefield worked through its struggles. The Panthers did stay close though, trailing 13-9 after a quarter and getting the deficit back to four points after Hairston helped extend it to eight early in the frame.
Back-to-back PikeView buckets from Austin Bennett and Elijah Hall made it a 19-15 with 5:31 to play in the half but Bluefield held off any serious threats the rest of the half, taking a 30-20 lead into the intermission.
The floodgates opened almost immediately out of the break.
Hairston and Kam’Ron Gore turned a pair of steals into quick scores with Hairston making it a trio when he swiped a third, missed a shot and grabbed his own rebound, eventually leading to an E.J. Washington 3.
The quick spurt led to a PikeView timeout that did little to change the momentum. Gore and Hairston swiped another pair of passes leading to another Gore layup before Hairston extended the run to 11-0 over the first four minutes of the third quarter.
When the smoke cleared the Beavers led 41-20.
“We had three miscues that led to rushed shots,” PikeView head coach Les Farmer said. “Kind of got right back in the run there and we had two good looks at 3 and those looks didn’t go. They got transition points out of it and then they got two steals and then we’re down 19. But I’m proud of the guys because they fought hard. I mean, playing without our starting point guard (Drew Damewood) right now, new guys are stepping into the role and hopefully we’ll have him back before the end of the season with sectionals coming up. But we’re making a push, that’s for sure.”
PikeView answered the 11-0 spurt with a 7-0 one powered largely by Elijah Hall.
A pair of David Thomas layups in the final minute of the frame trimmed the deficit to 11 at 45-34 but a Brett Samosky floater pushed it back to 13 before the buzzer. The Beavers never allowed PikeView to come any closer.
Hairston effectively closed the game out with six points in final frame to go along with four rebounds. He finished with 15 rebounds overall to round out his performance.
“R.J. is a heck of a ballplayer and he’s inside out,” Farmer said. “He’s done a good job as far as working on his outside game and stuff like that. He’s got such a quick first step for being a big guy. So we know he’s gonna be a challenge and he gets a lot of second-chance opportunities. He attacks them rim hard and I mean, he’s their player. He’s a player and he’s going to help them make their run to Charleston.”
Gore joined Hairston in double figures with 15 points and five steals.
Jared Vestal led PikeView with 15 points in the loss.
PV: 9 11 14 9 – 43
B: 13 17 17 15 – 62
PikeView
Austin Bennett 7, Elijah Hall 9, Bryson Bailey 4, David Thomas 6, Jared Vestal 15, Zach Rose 2
Bluefield
Sencere Fields 2, Glen Keene 6, Kam Gore 15, Brett Samosky 5, EJ Washignton 3, Ricky Dunford 2, Greyson Parris 4, Jack Hurt 2