Beavers declaw Panthers
By JESSICA DAVISBluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — It was a dynamic display of talent Tuesday night in the annual First Community Bank holiday basketball tournament at Princeton High School, as the Bluefield Beavers slam-dunked the PikeView Panthers 82-48, to advance to the championship game tonight.
“Our defense and transition was very important tonight,” Bluefield head coach Ernie Gilliard said. “We moved the ball exceptionally well and showed a great demonstration of team basketball.”
Bluefield will play Princeton in tonight’s championship game at 8 p.m. The Tigers defeated James Monroe 73-52. PikeView and the Mavericks will meet in the consolation game at 6 p.m.
Shane Roark fired in the first three points of the contest for the Panthers, but the Beavers used an 8-0 run to take an early five point lead. Bluefield never looked back, outscoring PikeView 25-11 in the second quarter, to take a convincing 27-point lead at the break.
“We stepped up our game and knew that we couldn’t let down,” Bluefield’s Kyle Hammond said. “PikeView is a much improved team, so we stuck to the fundamentals and did that little things to help us win the game.”
After the break the Panthers stepped up their offense, scoring 30 of their 48 points, but it would not be enough to overcome the Beavers as they fired in another 37 points.
“We played flat,” PikeView head coach Bill Anderson said. “We never got going and did not get into the game offensively. In order to win tomorrow we are going to have to put this game behind us and come out strong.”
The Panthers were led by Roark who scored 13 points, while Matt Scott and Casey Hager each chipped in nine.
Dexter Moore paced Bluefield with 20 points and Ansel Ponder had 17. Tremayne Matthews added 11, while Maurice Jordan and Hammond each contributed nine for the Beavers.
“This is a good win for us,” Moore said. “It’s a big win as a team because we know we are going to have to play PikeView again in the sectionals. Our defense hustled after every ball tonight and helped out a lot.”
“Anytime you play in a tournament it is great to advance to the championship game,” Gillard said. “In a tournament of this caliber, where you have four communities playing in such a close proximity, it is important to come out and play successfully in front of such a large crowd of familiar faces.”
— Contact Jessica Davis at
jdavis@bdtonline.com
Bluefield (2-0)
Payne 1 1-2 3, Page 2 1-4 5, Jordan 4 0-0 9, Dexter Moore 8 4-5 20, Tremayne Matthews 5 1-2 11, Hammond 3 3-4 9, Harris 2 0-0 4, Lambert 0 0-0 0, Powell 0 0-0 0, Ansel Ponder 6 5-6 17, Madison 1 0-0 2, Hurt 2 0-0 4.
PikeView (2-2)
Daniels 2 0-0 4, Church 1 0-0 2, Simpson 0 0-2 0, Kelly 0 0-2 0, Nottingham 0 0-3 0, Scott 3 1-5 9, Johnson 1 2-2 4, Cooper 0 0-0 0, Shane Roark 5 3-5 13, Kitchen 2 1-1 5, Redden 0 0-0 0, Hager 4 1-2 9.
Bluefield.................................................................20 25 19 18 — 82
PikeView...................................................................7 11 14 16 — 48
3-point baskets: Bluefield 1 (Jordan 1), PikeView 2 (Scott 2).
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