By TOM BONE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
CHARLESTON — Berkeley Springs had heard all about the speed and tenacity of the Bluefield High School basketball team.
There was nothing they could do to stop them.
The Beavers returned to the state tournament floor on Wednesday after a four-year absence and dominated the Indians from the Eastern Panhandle 69-38 in a Class AA first-round game at the Charleston Civic Center.
"Berkeley Springs came to play and to play hard," said Bluefield (25-1) head coach Buster Large. "We're glad to get the win and the chance to play on Friday."
Anthony Eades shook off an 0-for-4 start and led all scorers with 21 points. K.J. Manns ruled the boards with 16 rebounds, equally split between the offensive and defensive glass, and added 12 points.
Harley Trimble and Lykel Collier each tossed in 11 points. Trimble had seven rebounds and four steals while Collier handed out five assists and stole the ball three times.
Despite the numbers, three of the starters were not pleased with their individual play at the post-game press conference. "I didn't play very well," Collier said. "I'm glad to have the first game out of the way."
Eades said, "I didn't shoot well today [but] we've got to get that out of the way and get ready for Friday."
"We just had the jitters," Manns said. "But with this out of the way, I think we won't have the jitters, next game."
Large noted, "It's a huge experience for any kid to walk out on the floor at the Charleston Civic Center in front of 4,000 or 5,000 fans."
Jeremy Horvat, head coach of Berkeley Springs (14-12), said, "We were definitely nervous, you could tell. We were tentative."
Zach Wise, who led the Indians with eight points, said, "We couldn't keep it going. We didn't get it going."
Senior point guard Derrick Cowles said about the Bluefield defense, "They brought a lot of tenacity. They were in your face, very physical."
He also attributed some of Berkeley Springs' performance to being on a big sports stage. "The atmosphere, being here, made it seem a little more intimidating than they were."
Four Bluefield starters contributed points to take over the game from the start. With five seconds elapsed off the clock, Collier's layup gave the Beavers the lead they would never give up.
When Harley Trimble sank a reverse layup only 2:46 into the contest for a 12-3 advantage, Horvat called time to try to minimize further damage.
With the perimeter offense starting cold, Bluefield then began to drive and dish in the paint, extending their lead to 20-10 and inducing the Indians to commit seven fouls in the first 7:15 of the game.
Michael Yost nailed a three-pointer — his only trey of the game — from the left corner as time ran down in the initial period to give the Beavers a 23-10 lead after one quarter.
The Beavers' defensive pressure led to four straight Berkeley Springs turnovers in the latter portion of the second quarter. The Indians gave the ball up 14 times in the first half and had 22 at the game's end.
Horvat said, "They sped us up, and they got turnovers off of that. Some of the turnovers, though, were our fault, some bad passes and traveling with the ball."
As at the end of the first quarter, the Bluefield offense gave the Indians something to think about after the horn to end play. Eades' fadeaway jumper near the baseline with two seconds left produced a 40-21 halftime score. At the break, Manns already had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards, and Eades had 10 points and three steals.
Manns said, "I wanted to give my all from the very start. We didn't know them; they didn't know us. We knew we were going to play and the best man was going to win."
Trimble disrupted the Berkeley Springs offense three straight times in the third quarter, during a three-minute stretch in which neither team sank a field goal. Collier broke the drought with a three-point play, scoring in transition and sinking a foul shot, and Bluefield increased its lead to 52-26.
He scored nine straight Bluefield points to push the lead to 63-33 in the middle of the fourth quarter, before bench players took the floor for both teams.
Bluefield grabbed 15 steals, limited the Indians to 4-for-18 shooing from three-point range, and out-rebounded Berkeley Springs 44 to 33.
"Congratulations to Bluefield," Horvat said. "They're a tremendous group of kids, a tremendous group of YOUNG kids."
Large complimented the Bluefield cheering section, that appeared to contain more than 100 maroon-clad students making noise in the cavernous Civic Center. "I have never seen so many people from Bluefield come up here," he said. "With the cost of gas, and the toll booths [on the West Virginia Turnpike], it takes a dedicated fan to be here. And we've got some dedicated Beaver fans."
"We're going to need that on Friday."
Bluefield, with the No. 1 seed in Class AA, will play either No. 4 Tolsia or No. 5 Magnolia at 1 p.m. Friday in the semifinal round. Those teams were playing late Wednesday night. The state championship is at noon on Saturday.
— Contact Tom Bone at tbone@bdtonline.com

BERKELEY SPRINGS (14-12)
Wise 3-14 0-0 8, Cowles 2-10 0-0 4, J.Spielman 1-1 0-0 2, B.Spielman 2-7 0-1 4, Recio 2-5 1-2 6, Walters 0-1 0-1 0, Whipple 0-0 0-0 0, Kearney 1-4 0-0 3, Twigg 0-0 0-0 0, Appel 4-9 1-2 9, Athey 1-1 0-3 2. Totals 16-52 2-9 38.
BLUEFIELD (25-1)
Manns 5-6 2-2 12, Eades 9-24 3-3 21, Collier 4-7 3-3 11, Trimble 4-7 3-4 11, Yost 3-8 1-3 8, Ponder 0-1 0-0 0, Amaker 0-1 0-0 0, Smalls 0-0 0-0 0, Woodrum 1-2 0-0 2, Edwards 2-6 0-2 4, Mullins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-62 12-17 69.
Berkeley Springs..................10 11 10 7 — 38
Bluefield.............................. 23 17 16 13 — 69
3-Point Goals—Berkeley Springs 4-18 (Wise 2-8, Recio 1-1, Kearney 1-3, Walters 0-1, Appel 0-2, Cowles 0-3), Bluefield 1-6 (Yost 1-3, Eades 0-1, Collier 0-1, Amaker 0-1). Fouled out—none. Rebounds—Berkeley Springs 33 (Recio 8), Bluefield 44 (Manns 16). Assists—Berkeley Springs 12 (J.Spielman 6), Bluefield 15 (Collier 5). Total Fouls—Berkeley Springs 15, Bluefield 13. A—na.