By BOB REDD
Bluefield Daily Telegraph


BRUSHFORK — The Bluefield Beavers erased a sluggish start and pulled away over the final three quarters to defeat the Scott Skyhawks 82-59, Saturday afternoon at the Brushfork Armory. The win moved the Beavers to 5-0 on the season and ran their winning streak dating back to last year to 11 games.

“We are happy to win,” said Bluefield head coach Buster Large. “I liked our energy level. We’re playing hard. We’ve just got to get back to being a little bit sharper.

“I am by all means very happy to win. That (Scott) is a very good basketball club we played. They play in a very tough Cardinal Conference.”

The Skyhawks came to battle and grabbed an early lead. With the game tied at eight with 2:07 to play in the first quarter, Bluefield called time and then went on a 16-0 run the remainder of the first period and into the second stanza and never looked back.

D.J. Edwards and Anthony Eades were key on the offensive end of the court for the Beavers in the second quarter and the pressing Bluefield defense forced numerous Scott turnovers that led to fast break scoring opportunities for the home team.

Both Edwards and Eades scored nine in the second to stake Bluefield to a 42-19 halftime lead.

Lykel Collier took over for Bluefield in the third period. From his point guard position he scored eight points and dished the ball to teammates including Michael Yost who had a pair of baskets in the quarter.

Scott had its best offensive performance of the game in the third, scoring 27 points, but with Bluefield ahead by as many as 28 points, the Skyhawk charge was too little, too late.

Four Beavers scored in double figures led by Eades with 19. Edwards and Collier both tallied 16 and Yost added 11. Collier had 10 assists, while Edwards added two steals, five rebounds and two assists.

“Lykel Collier had some great passes and David (D.J. Edwards) did a great job,” Large said. “We created a lot of turnovers and put hands in passing lanes. Defense is key to a lot of our game and defense got our offense going with the turnovers.”

Eric May and Anthony Sigmon were Scott’s top scorers with 13 points apiece.

Bluefield is idle until Jan. 8 when they host the James Monroe Mavericks. The Beavers’ game on Jan. 10 vs. Greenbrier East, originally listed as a home game on the schedule, will now be played at GEHS in Fairlea, with the Spartans visiting Bluefield later in the season.

Bluefield won the junior varsity game 100-72.



At Brushfork Armory

SCOTT (4-2)

Nick Kuhn 2 0-0 4, Kirk Price 3 0-0 6, Kevin Wright 1 0-0 3, Dylyn DeHart 2 0-0 5, Eric May 5 2-4 13, Logan Webb 2 1-4 5, Cody Brown 2 0-0 5, Brandon Lafauci 1 0-0 3, Alex Ables 1 0-0 2, Anthony Sigmon 5 3-5 13, Totals 24 6-13 59.

BLUEFIELD (5-0)

Dakoda Smalls 1 1-2 3, D.J. Edwards 7 2-3 16, Anthony Eades 7 2-3 19, Lykel Collier 6 3-4 16, Michael Yost 5 0-0 11, Jordan Ponder 0 1-2 1, Azir Price 1 0-0 3, Corey Coppola 4 0-3 8, Matthew Woodrum 2 2-3 6, Jordan Huckleberry 0 0-0 0, Totals 33 11-20 82.

Scott.................................8 11 27 13 — 59

Bluefield..........................12 30 24 16 — 82

3-point goals: S - 5 (Wright, DeHart, May, Brown, Lafauci); B - 6 (Eades 3, Collier, Yost, Price)

Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: None.