By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph The Bluefield Daily Telegraph Wed Dec 14, 2011, 05:00 AM EST

BLUEFIELD — Like a coiled spring suddenly sprung, the Bluefield Beavers seemingly released months of energy on Tuesday night in their first game of the season, overwhelming their traditional rivals the Graham G-Men 91-44 at Graham Middle School.

The Beavers were facing a Graham team that had played three games and won them all, but the G-Men could not begin to keep up with the fast West Virginia-side athletes, winding up with 41 turnovers.

Bluefield head coach Buster Large said, “I feel like my coaches ... did a great job of preparing these young men for this battle. We told them all week long, for the last week and a half, this was not going to be an easy game.”

“I was very concerned about how we would play in front of a big crowd, but I was very pleased, very proud.”

Graham head coach Glynn Carlock Jr. said, “I think it’s a combination of them playing extremely, extremely well, and us playing probably as bad as we could play. ...

“I expected our guys to rise up and do the things that we’d worked on, and we did not do a very good job of that tonight. There’s nobody who left this locker room tonight that should be proud of anybody’s performance — players, coaches, anybody. We’re all in this together.”

“It was a real bad performance all around, by all of us.”

Bluefield sophomore Anthony Eades poured in 15 field goals and was 5-for-5 at the foul line for 36 points.

“My teammates were feeding me the ball real good,” Eades said. “I got open shots, they gave it to me. I was open. It’s not all me, all the points weren’t from me. They came from my teammates.”

Eades stole the ball eight times, including three straight grabs in a dizzying 20-second span early in the second half, each time converting the turnover into a layup.

“I was just playing aggressive, trying to get us good intensity,” Eades said. “They [the coaches] told me to be aggressive. They told us all to come out aggressive, to get out in front.”

“We were anxious to show everybody what we’ve got this year,” said point guard Lykel Collier, who generated 14 assists and 16 points to begin his sophomore season.

Eades said, “I didn’t know how it was going to go. I knew we’d come out hard, because we’ve been working hard in practice ... but I didn’t know how good we would play.”

He was complimentary of his teammates under the basket as well. “They did a real good job getting rebounds, kicking them out for the open shot,” he said.

Large said, “I’ve got to give a lot of credit to my players for being focused. I was really concerned about this game.

“Any time a team starts out 3-0, you’re doing something right. Coach Carlock does a tremendous job down here, and I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and his players and Graham’s program. He’s got a great group of kids, a lot of youth, but I was very concerned.”

Bluefield took a 20-2 lead over the first four minutes of play, with Eades getting three steals and 11 points. The Beavers’ full-court press never allowed Graham to get an offense established.

Large said, “We wanted to get out quick. Everybody here knows that we pressure. I felt like we did a good job changing our defenses, and we executed our offense well. We shot really well.”

Carlock said, “We watched last year’s film, and it was 17-2 to start the game last year. We tried to emphasize that to our guys, how important a good start was. ... When you start off that bad, it’s not a sign of good things to come.”

Bluefield led 54-25 at the half and went scoreless for the first 4:42 of the third quarter as the Beavers reeled off 17 straight points.

No matter what combination the Graham staff put on the floor, it could not slow down the visitors through the first three quarters.

Carlock said, “We’ve got a lot of kids that we can use. ... There wasn’t any combination that was going to solve the problems that we had tonight.”

He said Bluefield is “extremely, extremely talented. They do a great job in getting out and playing fast, and pressing you, and they have tremendous shooters.”

“Coach Large and his staff have done a great job of working these kids in the offseason. ... We played them once in the off-season. We knew what to expect.”

Collier said, “I didn’t expect it to be the score it was. It’s a rivalry game, so I thought it would be close. But a win like this is good to get.”

The nine varsity players for Bluefield all got minutes on the floor and seven of them scored. K.J. Manns netted 19 points and Que Amaker had 12.

Large said, “We emphasize in practice, whether you’re in the first group out there, or you’re coming out in the next three, you’ve got to play well.”

The turnovers mounted for Bluefield in the final quarter, too, with a different group of players on the floor.

Large said, “There were times there, late in the game, where we got a little sloppy, but you’ve got another mixture that hasn’t been practicing [together].”

Graham guard Spencer Sheets got his game going in the game’s last nine minutes, starting with the G-Men’s only three of the night from the right corner for the last points of the third period.

He added three more field goals and an assist in the fourth, concluding with 15 points to lead Graham’s scoring.

Graham travels to Tazewell on Thursday evening, while Bluefield’s next appearance will be in the Princeton Christmas Tournament this weekend. The Beavers open the tourney at 5:30 p.m. Friday, playing PikeView on the Princeton Senior High School court.

Large said, “You’re looking at some outstanding teams [in the tournament]. We’ve got to get back to work tomorrow. We’ve got to play PikeView Friday night. We have a lot of respect for them; we feel like they have a pretty good team this year, too.

“I feel like it’ll be an outstanding tournament.”

Carlock said Tazewell is “very, very much improved over what they have been. ... I’m very impressed with how they’ve started their year out, this year. I told our guys, the best thing for us to do right now is to get in the gym tomorrow and start focusing on them. And turn the page.”

Asked how he could top a game like Tuesday night’s, Eades said, “Come out hard again.”

— Contact Tom Bone at

tbone@bdtonline.com



At Graham Middle School

BLUEFIELD

K.J. Manns 7 5-8 19, Harley Trimble 1 0-0 2, Lykel Collier 7 2-3 16, Michael Yost 1 0-0 2, Anthony Eades 15 5-5 36, Que Amaker 5 0-0 12, Ryan Shorter 2 0-0 4, D.J. Edwards 0 0-0, Jordan Ponder 0 0-0 0. Totals 38 12-16 91.

GRAHAM

Tony Hood 1 0-1 2, Spencer Sheets 6 2-2 15, Gray Baker 2 0-0 4, Gabe Hurt 0 0-0 0, Brad Yost 1 0-0 2, Colby Hill 2 4-9 8, Lamont Edwards 1 3-3 5, Samuel Stowers 0 0-0 0, Dalton White 0 0-0 0, Tim Clarke 0 0-0 0, Tyler Thompson 1 0-0 2, Andrew Day 0 1-1 1, Zach Proffitt 1 1-2 3, Corey Coppola 1 0-4 2, Josh Altizer 0 0-0 0, Austin Miller 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 11-21 44.

Bluefield.........................31 25 25 10 — 91

Graham..........................11 14 7 12 — 44

Three-point goals: BHS 3 (Amaker 2, Eades 1); GHS 1 (Sheets 1). Total fouls: BHS 14, GHS 17. Fouled out: Coppola.