By BOB REDD
Bluefield Daily Telegraph

BLUEFIELD, Va. — The first Bluefield-Graham boys basketball game of the 2013-14 season was played before a near capacity crowd at Graham Middle School and the Beavers ran to a 79-42 win.

Bluefield head coach Buster Large said, “There’s a different way we have to step up each game and we answered this call. Graham’s got a good team. They are well-coached and we are fortunate to win tonight.”

Bluefield jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to a Michael Yost three and two free throws by D.J. Edwards and extended it to 10-4 on Yost’s second trey of the opening quarter. Graham fought back and Tony Hood’s trey with just over a minute left in the period pulled the G-Men to within three, but Bluefield baskets by Jordan Ponder and Matthew Woodrum gave the Beavers a 14-7 lead after one quarter.

A physical match from the onset, Bluefield entered the bonus, then double bonus fairly early in the second period. Anthony Eades made six-of-six charity tosses in the second and Yost added two more threes as the Beavers’ lead grew. Graham, struggling on the offensive end of the court, got a three and a deuce from both Roman Workman and Thomas Clarke, but it was Bluefield with the upper hand, 39-22 at halftime.

Eight unanswered points by Eades opened the third quarter as Bluefield pushed its lead to 47-22 and Eades was key for Bluefield on both ends of the court as the Beavers carried a 59-33 lead into the final eight minutes.

“He (Eades) is a great player and we are fortunate to have a young man like that,” Large said. “He’s well-balanced and I thought Michael Yost did a great job in the first half, hit some big shots.

“I also thought Matthew Woodrum did a good job coming off the bench rebounding as did Jordan Ponder.”

The Beavers went up by as much as 40 points in the final minutes as reserves played the fourth quarter.

“I felt like we played the first half as well as we could play,” said Graham head coach Glynn Carlock. “What we were trying to do defensively we did. Our defensive scheme we had going into the game was working to perfection I thought. Yost hit some shots, kept them in the game, got them a lead at halftime.

“I haven’t an explanation other than we didn’t stick to what we had asked them to do the second half and what they did is they capitalized on every one of our mistakes. They are known for being able to capitalize and make you pay. And they make you pay when you make a mistake and it’s going to show on the scoreboard.”

Eades led Bluefield with 21 points, nine rebounds and six steals. Lykel Collier dished out 12 assists and had two steals, while Yost popped in 15 points and grabbed four rebounds. Edwards dropped in 12 points and snagged four boards, while Woodrum and Corey Coppola each had five rebounds.

Roman Workman topped the Graham scoring column with 15 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Hood added 11 points, had five assists and four rebounds.

Bluefield (3-0) hosts the Bluefield Invitational this weekend at the Brushfork Armory. The Beavers will take on Mount View, Friday at 7:30. PikeView meets Oak Hill in the opening game at 5:30. Saturday night Bluefield will battle Oak Hill in the late game and it will be a battle of the Views in Saturday’s 5:30 contest.

“It’s good to get out of here with a win. It was a very physical game,” Large said. “They (Graham) came to play and it was a typical Graham-Bluefield game. I thought our kids adjusted to their type of play and settled down in the first half.”

Graham (2-2) is off until Dec. 27 when the G-Men tip-off against Carroll County in the Fort Chiswell Tournament.



At Graham Middle School

BLUEFIELD (3-0)

D.J. Edwards 5 2-2 12, Anthony Eades 5 10-11 21, Lykel Collier 2 3-4 7, Trevor Mullins 0 2-2 2, Michael Yost 5 0-0 15, Jordan Ponder 3 5-8 11, Azir Price 0 2-2 2, Corey Coppola 2 0-2 4, Matthew Woodrum 2 1-2 5, Jordan Huckleberry 0 0-0 0, Totals 24 25-38 79.

GRAHAM (2-2)

Tony Hood 3 4-4 11, Nick Morgan 0 0-0 0, Roman Workman 6 2-4 15, Thomas Clarke 2 0-0 5, Colby Hill 0 3-4 3, Ben Meade 0 1-2 2, Jacob Simpson 0 0-0 0, Nick Shoemaker 0 0-0 0, Zach Proffitt 2 1-22 5, Tanner Miller 1 0-0 2, Totals 14 11-16 42.

Bluefield................14 25 20 20 — 79

Graham..................7 15 11 9 — 42

3-point baskets: BLU - 6 (Yost 5, Eades); GRA - 3 (Hood, Workman, Clarke)

Fouled out: GRA - Morgan

Technical fouls: None