By JONATHAN GREENE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
BLUEFIELD — Princeton had already spoiled Bluefield’s perfect season. On Saturday, the Tigers were out to ruin the Beavers’ Senior Night.
Bluefield jumped out to an early 13-point lead before Princeton made a furious comeback to tie the game at half. However, the Beavers proved to be too much for the Tigers as they ran away with a 70-54 win in front of a packed Ned Shott Gymnasium.
“It was really nice,” Bluefield senior K.J. Manns said. “It felt really good to come out here and play the team that beat us. They ruined our streak. It’s our 20th game won. It was really special.”
Manns was among four Bluefield seniors honored pregame, along with Que Amaker, Harley Trimble and Jason Parker. Yet it was sophomores Lykel Collier and Anthony Eades who stole the show.
Collier scored 26 points and dished out seven assists including an alley-oop to Manns in the fourth quarter. Eades added 21 points which included five three pointers.
“Complete game,” Bluefield head coach Buster Large said. “We had a very great team effort and great community support. That made a huge difference.
“Our fans really got behind us and believe me, we as coaches and our team really appreciate what display of fan support was out here tonight.”
Ryan Meadows paced Princeton who trailed the majority of first half, but were able to tie the game at 31 thanks to back-to-back deuces from Darnell Palmer near the end of the second. The Tigers took their only lead to start the third quarter on a drive by Meadows, but Bluefield answered then never gave the lead back.
“They just outplayed us,” Princeton head coach Ernie Gilliard said. “Simply put they outplayed us. We did a pretty good job handling their energy early on. Come out in the second half, they just had a little more energy than we did.
“They executed much better than we did. As a result, we take the loss. They’re a very good basketball team and very well prepared. We felt like we were prepared, but we just didn’t execute.”
Neither team found their grove early as Princeton turned the ball over twice while Bluefield’s first few attempts rattled off the rim. Trimble’s putback gave the Beavers a 2-0 lead before Tre Hopkins answered with a putback of his own to tie it. From there, Bluefield built a 15-2 lead before Meadows hit a three with 3:29 left in the first.
Bluefield led 20-10 after the first, but the Tigers finally settled down in the second quarter. The teams traded buckets to start then Princeton went on a 13-2 run to tie the game at 27. Collier ended the run with two straight drives before Palmer answered to send the teams tied at intermission.
“That’s the nature of our kids,” Gilliard said. “We don’t have any quitters. Our kids fought hard. They settled down after the early run and got focused and started executing the things that we worked on.
“We had a pretty good gameplan. I’m not surprised, but I’m very proud they were able to fight throughout and get back in it. The second half, we have to play 32 minutes. Not just 16.”
After Meadows gave the Tigers their only lead, Collier hit Manns on an inbound play to tie the game. Manns then added two free throws before he brought the Bluefield fans to their feet with a fastbreak slam.
A Hunter Walters’ three trimmed the deficit to three, but the Beavers were able to build their lead to 52-41 after three quarters.
“Early on, we were really fluid and we were moving,” Large said. We were cutting to the basket and taking good shots. There in the second, we got just a little bit out of control. They made a good run there and tied the ballgame. I truly want to give my assistants coaches — Tony Webster, Don Jones and Dave Hubbard — a lot of credit here at halftime.
“They did a tremendous job at halftime getting our players under control and knowing what we had to do to win this ballgame. We knew the first four minutes were going to be critical to who was going to win the ball game. We made the adjustments, took some good shots and ran our offense.”
Trailing by just 11, the Tigers were still in it heading into the fourth. However, the Beavers had different plans. Eades hit a three to start then Collier hit Manns for the oop as Bluefield extended their lead to 16.
“We knew that we had to come out and not let up,” Manns said. “We knew in the second half we had to step our game up and our intensity. We came out here and did that. The dunk definitely got the team fired up.”
Princeton attempted to rally, but the Beavers’ pressure was too much down the stretch. The lead grew to 20 before both teams went to their benches for the close of the game.
“That’s their strength and that’s their game,” Gilliard said of Bluefield’s pressure. “That’s why their record is 20-1 at this point I believe. If you don’t handle it well, you’re not going to be very successful against them.
“Now we had some things in place that we should of done and that we could of done, our kids just didn’t make good decisions tonight. Once this team gets a lead, I don’t know of anybody that would be able to get back in, because they are so athletic.”
Manns finished with 12 points. Trimble chipped in with six points, eight boards and five steals.
Palmer backed Meadows’ 17 with 11 points. They were the lone Tigers in double figures.
Princeton hosts another rival Tuesday in PikeView while Bluefield closes out their regular season with a trip to Wyoming East.
“I want to enjoy this one first,” Large said. “I know this, they have not lost since they played here in Bluefield. I want to enjoy this one with our kids and coaches. We’ll start to get ready to work for that one Monday.
— Contact Jonathan Greene
at jgreene@bdtonline.com

at Ned Shott Gymnasium
PRINCETON (11-8)
Ryan Meadows 6 3-5 17, Tre Hopkins 1 2-2 4, Darnell Palmer 4 3-4 11, Austin Southcott 4 0-0 8, Storm McPherson 0 0-0 0, Derek Janell, 1 0-0 3, Hunter Walters 2 0-0 6, Kyle Caron 0 3-4 3, Aaron Ferguson 1 0-1 2, Lamont Lee 0 0-0 0, Joe Mills 0 0-2 0. Totals 19 11-18 54.
BLUEFIELD (20-1)
K.J. Manns 3 6-8 12, Harley Trimble 3 0-0 6, Lykel Collier 8 7-8 26, Michael Yost 0 2-2 2, Anthony Eades 7 2-3 21, Que Amaker 0 0-0 0, D.J. Edwards 1 0-1 2, Jordan Ponder 0 1-2 1, David Woodrum 0 0-0 0, Trevor Mullins 0 0-0 0, Jason Parker 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 18-24 70.
Princeton............................10 21 10 13 — 54
Bluefield.............................20 11 21 18 — 70
3 pt field goals: PRT 5 (Meadows 2, Walters 2, Janelle); BLF 8 (Eades 5, Collier 3). Fouled out: PRT, Palmer; BLF, Trimble. Techincals- Palmer. JV: Princeton won 56-51.