By BRIAN WOODSON
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — William Anderson was concerned about River View, even if the Raiders entered Saturday’s Region III, Section 2 quarterfinal without a win on the season.
For good reason.
Trailing by nine points going into the fourth period, the Panthers were able to rally past the Raiders to advance to Tuesday’s semifinals with a 65-54 victory at Princeton Senior High School’s Ralph Ball Court.
“They were a team to look out for. They were ready and they had us on the ropes,” Anderson said. “It was a game that could have gone either way. It wasn’t pretty, but at least we got the ‘W’.”
PikeView (12-10), which will play James Monroe in the semifinals on Tuesday at 7:45 p.m., outscored the Raiders 26-7 in the final quarter, with many of those points coming from the free throw line. The Panthers were 25-41 from the charity stripe, while the Raiders were 8-14.
Will Webster, who led all scorers with 26 points, was 12-25 from the free throw line.
“Every time they would foul us we were going there so I said, ‘Well, we are scoring points when the clock stops,’” Anderson said. “That is a good thing for a team that is behind.”
River View (0-22) was led by Byron Church with 24 points, including four of his club’s six 3s. LeShon Benton added six points before being one of four Raiders to leave with five fouls in the final period.
The Raiders trailed 30-26 at the break, and used a 21-9 third quarter advantage to build a 47-29 lead, and then added a free throw to go ahead 47-38 with 7:22 to go in the game.
As has been the case all season, that’s when it fell apart for the Raiders.
“We were up nine and the wheels fell off again like it usually has all year,” River View head coach Don Smith said. “We played extremely well the last month, haven’t had anything to show for it. It seems like every time we get on a roll either we commit some dumb plays or calls that maybe shouldn’t go against us.”
Webster led the comeback, scoring 11 points in the final period, including seven straight after the Raiders had built a 54-48 lead on a basket by Zach DeHaven with 4:27 left in the game.
That was it for River View, which didn’t score again. PikeView took the lead back on a basket by Tyler Ruble, and the Panthers never looked back, surviving against a valiant effort by a foe with nothing to lose.
Benton fouled out with 3:37 to go, and three teammates followed him to the bench. David Keen, who had 12 points fouled out for PikeView.
“That is the probably the best game I ever seen them play,” Anderson said. “They used all five players, Benton was especially very good underneath. He is a good ballhandler, he is an all-around player.”
River View also received seven points from DeHaven and six each from Benton, Trey Lockhart and Aaron Wilson.
“Our team has in most cases been exciting to watch and they have always given effort and they play good defense,” Smith said. “But, shooting…we went to the foul line tonight and missed four in a row after making all our foul shots in the first half.
“I told our kids that PikeView is just like James Monroe. They are just going to start gnawing on your leg until they start bothering you. Unfortunately for us it was right at the end. If they had waited another two minutes to bother us I think we would been all right, but that’s basketball.”
PikeView, which also received nine points from Jason Weitzel and eight for Ruble, returns to action on Tuesday against James Monroe with a regional berth on the line. The Mavericks have beaten the Panthers twice this season.
The Panthers have won the last two sectional titles.
“James Monroe is a whole different type of ball club. They can shoot outside, they can run and they play defense,” Anderson said. “That is a team that we cannot and will not take lately. They beat us twice in the regular season.
“All records are gone in the postseason, zero and zero.”
— Contact Brian Woodson
at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

At Princeton Senior High School
RIVER VIEW (0-22)
LeShon Benton 3 0-0 6, Byron Church 7 6-6 24, Trey Lockhart 2 2-4 6, Zach DeHaven 3 0-3 7, Taylor DeHaven 0 0-0 0, John Bailey 2 0-1 5, Aaron Wilson 3 0-0 6, James Walker 0 0-0 0, Alex Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Tyler Jackson 0 0-0 0, Jordan Wilson 0 0-0 0, Austin Keen 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 8-14 54.
PIKEVIEW (12-10)
Will Webster 7 12-25 26, Tanner Farley 1 2-2 4, Zach VanBlaricom 1 2-2 4, Cory Peyton 1 0-0 2. David Keen 6 0-0 12, Jason Weitzel 1 7-8 9, Tyler Ruble 3 2-4 8, Brandon Hazelwood 0 0-0 0, Willie Sizemore 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 25-41 65.
River View...........................13 13 21 7 — 54
PikeView...............................19 11 9 26 — 65
3-point goals: RV 6 (Church 4, Z.DeHaven 1, Bailey 1); PV 0. Total fouls: RV 30; PV 19. Fouled out: Benton, Keen, Z.DeHaven, Church, Lockhart. Technicals: Church.