By BOB REDD
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BRUSHFORK — The PikeView Panthers had a rough time keeping up with the Joneses Friday night in the opening game of the Bluefield Invitational at the Brushfork Armory.

Oak Hill’s Josh Jones connected on seven-of-eight three point shots for 21 points, and teammate Jalen Jones dropped in 18 to lead the Red Devils to a 75-52 win.

“We didn’t do a very good job contesting their shots and then when they didn’t make it, we didn’t do a very good job boxing out,” said PikeView head coach Lindsey Jones. “That’s part of the perfect storm.”

For two-and-a-half quarters the teams battled in a close contest. In the opening stanza Jalen Jones’ basket in the closing seconds gave Oak Hill an 11-10 lead after the first eight minutes of action. It was a lead the Red Devils never relinquished the remainder of the night, though the Panthers did challenge.

A pair of treys by Josh Jones put Oak Hill up by eight 22-14, but when Tanner Farley drilled a three with 2:30 to go in the half, PikeView was down by only three. Oak Hill carried a 29-24 lead into halftime.

After the break the Red Devils continued their hot shooting from behind the three point line against the PikeView zone defense. Josh Jones made three more from behind the arc in the quarter and three other Devils connected on long shots to give Oak Hill a 50-38 lead headed into the fourth period.

In the final quarter Oak Hill used free throws and two-point shots to grow its lead as high as 26 points before the final margin of victory was achieved.

Josh and Jalen Jones were the only Oak Hill players to score in double figures. For the game the Red Devils made 12 three-point shots, seven of them by Josh Jones.

PikeView was paced by Bradley Flinchum who scored 18 points.

“He (Flinchum) has got just one speed,” Jones said. “He hustles real hard and he gets up and down the floor. He does everything for us.”

With the win Oak Hill improved to 2-1 and will face Bluefield, tonight in the final game of the Bluefield Invitational, tipping off at approximately 7:30. PikeView, now 0-2, will seek its first win as they take on Mount View, 91-21 losers to Bluefield, in the 5:30 game at the Brushfork Armory.

“We’re getting better, believe it or not,” Jones said of his Panther team. “We’re just trying to figure things out and get a little confidence about ourselves right now.”



At Brushfork Armory

OAK HILL (2-1)

Jalen Jones 7 3-4 18, K.K. Goodman 2 0-0 4, Deonte Scruggs 1 0-0 3, Jacob Crouch 0 0-0 0, Josh Jones 7 0-0 21, Logan Light 0 0-0 0, Paul Walton 0 0-0 0, Marc Logan 3 0-0 5, Joey Re 2 2-2 6, Ian Hunt 3 2-2 9, Quenton Tranham 1 0-0 2, Jabri Jones 1 0-0 2, Antonio Gray 3 0-0 7, Totals 12 16 7-8 75.

PIKEVIEW (0-2)

Nathan Taylor 0 0-0 0, Austin Hazelwood 0 0-0 0, Seth Wood 2 1-2 5, Seth Meadows 1 4-5 6, Bradley Flinchum 9 0-3 18, Tanner Farley 2 2-2 7, Hunter Hill 0 0-0 0, Jason Weitzel 4 0-0 9, Justin Dickinson 0 0-0 0, Zach Meadows 1 5-7 9, Totals 18 12-19 52.

Oak Hill..........................11 18 21 25 — 75

PikeView........................10 14 14 14 — 52

3-point goals: OH 12 (Ja. Jones, Scruggs, Logan, Hunt, Gray, Jo. Jones 7); PV 1 (Farley).