By BOB REDD
for the Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — The Summers County Bobcats roared into Bluefield looking for the upset against the No. 1 Bluefield Beavers, but early success faded and the Beavers rolled to a 68-49 win on Wednesday night at Ned Shott Gymnasium.
“They came up here ready to play, and Coach (James ) Payne does as good a job as any coach out there,” said Beavers head coach Buster Large. “They came ready to play.”
The early part of the game could be called a game of runs.
After Lykel Collier scored the first points of the contest from the charity stripe, Summers opened a five point lead. Bluefield then went on a 15-2 run to end the first period with a 17-9 lead.
The Bobcats then clawed back to within seven points in the second period at 24-17, only to see Bluefield use a pressing defense to force turnovers and help the Beavers to a 32-17 halftime lead.
Anthony Eades carried the mail for Bluefield with 16 first half points and T.J. Smith tallied 10 of Summers County’s 17.
The Beavers came out determined to open the third quarter. An 8-0 run to open the third quarter helped Bluefield build a lead that extended as high as 30 points.
Eades led Bluefield and all scorers with 29 points. K.J. Manns fired in 11 and Collier added 10 and snagged 10 rebounds.
“What those two (Eades and Collier) did tonight was tremendous,” Large said. “Anthony really shot well, it was his best game all year, and Lykel had a double-double and is getting more consistent each game.”
The Beavers, now 10-0, return to the court Friday night at Scott.
“We’re going into a tough place to play Friday,” Large said. “They are the defending state runners-up and we haven’t won there in three years. We’ve got our work cut out.”
Smith led Summers County with 27.

At Ned Shott Gymnasium
SUMMERS COUNTY (3-7)
Summers County – Brown 3 0-0 9, Garton 1 0-0 2, Graham 1 3-4 5, Smith 10 6-7 27, Hannah 3 0-0 6, Harless 0 0-0 0, Totals 18 9-11 49.
BLUEFIELD (10-0)
Ponder 0 0-0 0, Amaker 1 0-0 2, Manns 5 1-1 11, Eades 12 2-2 29, Collier 3 4-4 10, Trimble 1 0-0 2, Yost 2 0-0 4, Woodrum 1 0-0 2, Edwards 0 3-4 3, Shorter 2 1-2 5, Totals 27 11-13 68.
Summers County (3-7)…...9 8 10 22 — 49
Bluefield (10-0)…..............17 15 24 14 — 68
Three point baskets: SC 4 (Brown 3, Smith 1); BF 3 (Eades 3).