Gallery by Karen AkersĀ
The Beckley boys basketball team has seen its fair share of youthful mistakes and frustrations this year.
Head coach Ron Kidd refused to use that as an excuse.
Instead the veteran coach chose to focus on the expectations for his young team and a belief that his kids could play.
Saturday night when the Flying Eagles entertained sectional rival Princeton, Beckley backed its coach’s words with a huge sectional win.
Playing only 14 minutes with all-state guard Elijah Redfern, the Flying Eagles still led almost the entire game and dispatched the Tigers 69-61 inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.
“We feel like our young kids really know how to play basketball. They move the ball really good and I thought Braydon (Hawthorne) really stood big while Elijah was out,” Kidd said. “He showed he could really play. He stepped up big and helped us a lot.”
Beckley started quick jumping to an 11-1 lead that was 14-9 when potential disaster struck. As the clock ticked near two minutes in the first quarter, Redfern was called for his third foul of the game.
Princeton closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to steal the lead and take a firm hold on the momentum.
With Redfern relegated to sitting the remainder of the half and Princeton holding the lead, Beckley did not panic.
“We told our kids to at least keep playing and make sure that we got a shot at the goal and make sure we guarded them,” Kidd said. “I thought they played extremely well and played well as a team.”
A bucket from Zyon Hawthorne gave Beckley the lead before Princeton took its final lead of the night on a Kris Joyce traditional 3-point play.
The Flying Eagles tied the game at 18 and led 20-18 off a stick back from Braydon Hawthorne. After Joyce tied the game for the final time, Braydon Hawthorne scored seven straight for a 27-20 lead.
“I had to step up and play. I knew I could do it and I just kept playing,” Braydon Hawthorne said. “We all just kept rolling and played together.”
The visitors didn’t go away and when Nik Fleming drilled a corner 3-ball just before the buzzer, the Tigers were back within two points at halftime.
Redfern returned to the floor to start the second half and Beckley exploded for eight straight for a 40-30 lead.
However a pair of hard fouls from Dom Collins, first on Redfern and then on Coby Dillon caused some heated reactions. In the exchange, Redfern was hit with a technical foul just two minutes into the third period, which was also his fourth personal foul.
Although Beckley led by 10, it faced another big stretch without their floor general. While it looked odd, it was not a totally new concept for the Flying Eagles.
“In practice they sub (Elijah) out just for situations like that,” Beckley big man Jaylon Walton said. “We will run through the offense, get boards and play the backup team. It helped because playing without your primary ball-handler and scorer is hard sometimes.”
Princeton had the lead back within one possession at the 2:09 mark, but Braydon Hawthorne again had the answer.
Hawthorne’s first slam of the night caused the Beckley crowd to erupt. His stick back slam with 17 seconds left in the third period caused the building to move giving the Flying Eagles a 49-43 lead with one quarter to play.
“That should have been in his mind that he was the (veteran) person (on the floor) at that time,” Kidd said. “He took over when we needed him to take over. It is a different game if he doesn’t take over like that.”
Koen Sartin sliced the Beckley lead in half to open the fourth period, but Hawthorne answered right back with a triple. Then leading 53-49, Dillon stepped into the driver’s seat for the Flying Eagles.
The freshman sharpshooter nailed back-to-back 3-balls and blew by his defender for an easy layup. Dillon’s personal run helped build an eight-point lead with under four minutes to play.
Dillon also made 3-of-4 fouls shots on the night, his first of the season.
“I thought (Coby) was big and he went in and made a big layup too at a time that we needed a layup,” Kidd said. “People know he can shoot, but he showed he can do some other things too. He can attack the glass and he got to the foul line tonight.”
Dillon scored a game-high 20 points, while Hawthorne scored 17 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had five assists.
“I thought tonight they fought off (the adversity), showed they could play and showed a whole lot of poise,” Kidd said about his young group. “Like we have said, this is the 11th game, they should be showing they can play like that.”
Although his minutes were limited Saturday, Redfern ended with 17 points and made five of his six free-throw attempts down the stretch to seal the win.
“They took us out last year. Everybody wanted some revenge on them for taking our playoff opportunity last year,” Walton said. “We have been talking about it all week.”
Fleming had 17 for the Tigers, while Joyce scored 15 and Sartin had 10.
With the postseason just over a month away, Beckley now has two sectional wins versus just one sectional setback. The Flying Eagles play South Charleston Thursday at home before traveling to sectional rival Oak Hill Friday.
“We wanted to get a sectional win and that puts us in the groove for the No. 1 seed,” Kidd said. “That is what you are fighting for, to play the first game at home or the whole (sectional) at home.”
Princeton travels to South Charleston Monday.
P: 15 15 13 18 – 61
B: 14 18 17 19 – 68
Princeton
Nik Fleming 17, Gavin Stover 6, Davon Edwards 3, Dom Collins 1, Chase Hancock 5, E.J. Washington 2, Kris Joyce 15, Koen Sartin 10. Totals: 20 15-23 61.
Beckley
Coby Dillon 20, Elijah Redfern 17, Zyon Hawthorne 2, Braydon Hawthorne 17, Drew Fitzwater 3, Kellen Heffernan 1 Jaylon Walton 8. Totals: 22 18-27 68.
3-pointers – P: 6 (Fleming 3, Edwards, Hancock, Sartin); B: 6 (Dillon 3, Redfern, B. Hawthorne 2)