By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
GARDNER — The Bluefield Beavers surged back from their only loss of the year on Tuesday night, dashing past the PikeView Panthers 103-61 in the PikeView gym.
“We had to get back to Beaver basketball,” said Bluefield coach Buster Large. “That was the thing we emphasized in practice. I’m real pleased with all my kids. We had six of them in double figure scoring. It was a total team effort.”
Bluefield (16-1) utilized a full-court press right from the start, and by the end of the first quarter, PikeView (7-9) had turned the ball over 12 times and attempted 12 field goals, making five. The Beavers had made 12 of 20 floor shots and led 30-13.
Large said about the press, “I thought it got them out of rhythm. We pushed our press the full length of the court, and when you do that you create turnovers that turn your defense into offense.”
PikeView coach William Anderson said, “Their press was very effective. We practiced breaking the press, but it seems like we just forgot it. ... Game conditions are different.”
The Bluefield offense concentrated on the perimeter to begin with. Anthony Eades hit three three-pointers in the opening five minutes, and Michael Yost also scored from behind the arc to help the visitors to a 23-8 edge.
Bluefield guard Lykel Collier ended the first quarter with a three from the right side. He trumped that as the half came to an end, launching a half-court shot that swished through the net, giving the Beavers a 59-28 margin.
At the half, Bluefield had made 22 of 38 shots and PikeView was 8 for 22.
PikeView inside man Zach Van Blaricom was a thorn in Bluefield’s side in the first half, making three baskets in the first quarter and blocking a couple of shots. But he was held to four points after intermission and finished with 10 points.
Will Webster used his speed to counter Bluefield at times, and scored 13 for PikeView in the first half and ended with 15 points.
Anderson said, “Will is the type of athlete that never quits. I don’t think that’s in his vocabulary. He’ll give you 100-percent-plus on both ends of the court. He offers no excuse. He’s a pretty good basketball player.”
Once the PikeView defense started to concentrate on the outside, Bluefield took the ball to the hoop early in the second half.
Collier used a shake-and-bake move to get a clear lane to the basket and gave the Beavers a 61-30 lead. After that, K.J. Manns got familiar with the rim, tossing down a dunk and a couple of tip-ins in a three-minute period.
Anderson employed several alignments, “just trying to find five that’ll work, just trying to match their speed a little bit, just to see what we could do,” he said. “We were looking at everything.”
Foul trouble began to catch up with the Beavers in the second half, but the bench proved plenty deep. Bluefield reached the 100-point mark with 2:16 left in the game on a foul shot by freshman guard Jordan Ponder — his only point of the evening.
Eades and Edwards each scored 19 points for Bluefield, and Collier tossed in 18. Manns had 15 and Yost had 13. The Beavers were 37 for 69 from the field.
PikeView center David Keen contributed 11 points, and Van Blaricom and Tyler Ruble each had 10. PikeView made 20 of 49 field-goal attempts.
Ruble, Anderson said, “has been coming on all season. We’re looking for bigger and better things from him. He’s in the same mold as Will.”
The coach said about Bluefield, “They lost one. We knew they were going to come back strong. We tried to prepare for that. ... We told them, just chip away at the lead. But Bluefield kept hitting shots, and it’s hard to chip away at a lead when your opponent keeps hitting them.”
Large said, “PikeView’s young and they’re going to get better. I’m sure they will be ready by sectional time.”
He said about his team’s effort, “I thought it was good but not as good as we wanted. We’ve just got to get better. We’ve got five regular-season games left. ... We haven’t hit our peak, but we’re working to get there.”
Bluefield hosts Scott on Friday. Large said, “We’ve got a tough stretch coming up. ... We were fortunate to win up there, but they’ve got some very good personnel coming back, and they’re very strong with their guard play, so we’ve got to be on top of our game.”
PikeView is on the road Thursday and Friday, playing at River View and at Shady Spring.
Anderson said, “This game’s behind us. We’ve got to look forward to River View, and then, the next night, Shady. Both of those are exceptional teams.”
— Contact Tom Bone at
tbone@bdtonline.com

At PikeView High School
BLUEFIELD
K.J. Manns 5 5-6 15, Harley Trimble 3 0-0 6, Lykel Collier 6 4-5 18, Michael Yost 5 2-2 13, Anthony Eades 8 0-0 19, Que Amaker 4 2-5 12, D.J. Edwards 6 7-919, Jordan Ponder 0 1-2 1. Totals 37 21-29 103.
PIKEVIEW
Nathan Taylor 0 2-4 2, Will Webster 4 6-11 15, Zach Van Blaricom 5 0-0 10, Jason Weitzel 0 3-5 3, Cory Peyton 1 0-0 2, Tyler Ruble 4 1-2 10, Brandon Hazelwood 2 1-2 5, Jonathan Burrell 1 1-3 3, David Keen 3 5-5 11. Totals 20 19-32 61.
Bluefield.......................30 29 26 18 — 103
PikeView......................13 15 19 14 — 61
Three-point goals: BHS 8 (Collier 2, Yost 1, Eades 3, Amaker 2); PV 2 (Webster 1, Ruble 1). Total fouls: BHS 24, PV 23. Fouled out: BHS, Edwards.