Gallery by Tina Laney
Coaches constantly implore their teams to practice and play with a “next man up” mentality.
Tuesday night when Beckley visited Shady Spring, it was the Tigers that were down a key starter in the emotional county rivalry.
The Tigers never missed a beat.
Bolstered by big-time performances from Ammar Maxwell, Gavin Davis and strong supporting cast, Class AAA No. 2 Shady Spring never trailed in an 83-67 win over the Flying Eagles.
“I am very, very proud of our guys for performing in the various circumstances they were put under with Jack (Williams) not playing and Ammar (Maxwell) being in foul trouble. Just very proud of their resiliency,” Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson said.
A 3-ball from Davis gave Shady the lead to start the game which ballooned to a 25-17 advantage after the first quarter.
A score from Maxwell to open the second quarter made it a 10-point advantage before Beckley ran off five straight to cut the lead in half with 6:33 to play before halftime.
Even worse for the Tigers was the fact that Maxwell, a Player of the Year candidate, also picked up his third foul on a blocking call.
“I was a little frustrated, but I trusted my team,” Maxwell said. “I knew they had my back. I know they can do anything without me or Jack in the game.”
The Tigers pushed the lead back to eight points before a bucket from Nazir King and a step-through reverse layup from Elijah Redfern pulled the Flying back within four points.
Just when Shady appeared to be in some trouble, the Tigers held Beckley scoreless the remaining 3:54 of the second quarter and closed the quarter on an 8-0 run.
Brody Radford scored on a strong drive to the rim before Khi Olson swished a baseline jumper. A pull-up jump-shot from Davis along with a runner by the senior football standout gave Shady a 40-28 lead at the break.
“I have probably said it in every interview and it is one of our big buzz words – opportunity. You never want your brothers to get hurt or be down. However, a good family and a good team stands up when someone is down. They took that opportunity,” Olson said. “We had guys all over the floor tonight scoring that you didn’t think would score tonight. They were in the right spots and they never wavered. Without Ammar on the floor, we pushed it to the biggest lead we had in the first half. That was amazing.”
Davis was a big part of the first half success dropping in 13 of his 16 points points to spark the home team.
“Gavin is a dog,” Maxwell said. “He is known more on the football field, but I know what he brings to the court. He is a hustler and a senior leader for us.”
“I called him out in front of the team because that was big for him to do that,” Olson said about Davis’ play. “With Ammar out and our offense kind of getting stalled. He saw a crack in the defense and he went after it.”
After sitting most of the second quarter, Maxwell made an immediate impact with an old-school 3-point play and a triple to open the second half.
Maxwell scored 21 of his game-high 32 points in the second half to keep Beckley at bay.
“I was frustrated in the first half, so I knew I had to go out in the second half and show what I can do,” Maxwell said. “I knew I had to be aggressive. They were calling it tight, so I knew I had to go out, get to the rim and get some fouls. I just had to be me.”
A score in the lane from Jalon Bailey and a pull-up jumper from Radford gave the Tigers its biggest lead of the night at 20 points.
Radford was tasked with the majority of the ball-handling duties in the absence of Williams who missed the game with a hip injury.
“Brody knows his role. We have to have somebody there to be a calming force,” Olson said. “He touches the ball so much and he did a good job with the pressure defense. He orchestrated the game beautifully. He got us in our sets and did a good job settling us down.”
Beckley answered with strong play inside from Jaylon Walton who scored nine of his 15 points in the third quarter to rally the Flying Eagles back within 11 points.
Each time the visitors would make a charge, the Tigers would answer with a big shot and pull away.
“We built the lead up and they came back on us. Then Jalon hit a big shot. Khi hit a big shot and Gavin hit a shot. Those three guys hit a big shot and they were off great high IQ passes,” coach Olson said. “The defense collapsed and they kicked it right out and they were in perfect position.”
Five straight points from Redfern, who missed the first matchup with an injury, pulled Beckley within 10 points with 6:03 to play, but Davis’ triple stemmed the tide and Beckley could never get closer down the stretch.
Olson scored 14 for the Tigers and Bailey had nine. Redfern led the Flying Eagles with 26 points and Coby Dillon scored 11.
“Nobody feels sorry for you if you are down a guy. Nobody is feeling sorry for Shady Spring because we are down “all everything” guard Jack Williams,” Olson said. “Nobody felt sorry for Beckley when they were down Redfern at their place. We just kept playing. They came in with the same mentality.”
Tuesday was the 50th meeting between the two schools with all of the wins by the Tigers coming in the last six meetings.
“It was a great atmosphere tonight. Can I talk about our student section and our community again. I want them to know how much I appreciate their support as the head coach and as the athletic director of Shady Spring High School. Beckley did a good job too,” Olson said. “I have nothing but respect for (Beckley head) coach (Ron) Kidd and those guys. Obviously I am happy because we won and I would be upset if we lost, but I love what this rivalry has turned into. It is great for our two schools. It was a great team win tonight for us.”
Coach Kidd was unavailable for comment after the game.
B: 17 11 16 22 – 67
SS: 25 15 17 26 – 83
Beckley
Coby Dillon 11, Elijah Redfern 26, Zyon Hawthorne 8, Preston Clary 3, Nazir King 2, Drew Fitzwater 2, Jaylon Walton 15.
Shady Spring
Ammar Maxwell 32, Gavin Davis 16, Khi Olson 14, Jalon Bailey 9, Brody Radford 5, Braedy Johnston 7.
