By JONATHAN GREENE
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — There was no buzzer beater for Greenbrier West this time.
After eliminating Bluefield in last year's sectional on a half court prayer, the Beavers made sure the Cavaliers would not get a chance to repeat.
Bluefield used a trapping defense as they pulled away from Greenbrier West 78-45 Tuesday night in the Class AA, Region 3, Section 2 semifinals at Princeton Senior High School.
“We know it's either win or go home now,” Bluefield head coach Buster Large said. “We put last year behind us. This team knows what we've got to do. You have to be focused every night.
“If you're not focused, you're going to fall very easily. Hopefully, we'll be focused again Friday night. We're very happy to be playing the championship game. Now, we're guaranteed two.”
The Cavaliers (13-10) scored first and kept it tied for the first two minutes of the game, but they couldn't hold on. The Beavers (22-1) used several different defenses to force 21 Greenbrier West turnovers as they built up a 33-point lead by the fourth quarter.
“We knew they were pretty good, ranked No. 1 in the state,” Greenbrier West head coach Joey Fitzwater said. “After we upset them here last year, I knew they were come out strong. We put in a game plan, but we just didn't execute.
“We come out early turn the ball over two or three times and had shots. I think if we could of executed, it would of settled us down early instead of the second quarter. It may have been a little closer, but I don't think we’d upset them this year.”
Chase Bryant scored the game's first basket before the Beavers tied it on a Lykel Collier reverse layup. After Collier was called for a charge, Josh Martin threw it down on a fast break to tie the game for the last time at 4-4 with 5:53 left in the first.
K.J. Manns gave Bluefield the lead on a putback then Collier hit Harley Trimble as the Beavers started an 8-0. The teams traded baskets until Anthony Eades hit a three just before the buzzer to make it 21-9.
“It wasn't one of our best starts,” Large said. “You have to realize there are three sophomores on the floor. Even though they have 22 games under their belt, there still might be a few jitters there.
“We settled down and started playing our type of ball. We started pushing more and got in transition. I think that really helped us in breaking the game open.”
The Cavaliers had several chances to get back in the game in the second as the Beavers sent them to the foul line. Greenbrier West made just three of seven attempts while Bluefield maintained its double-digit lead. The Beavers then closed the half on a 9-2 run capped off by a running bank shot at the buzzer from Collier.
“That's hurt us all year long,” Fitzwater said. “After every game, I do the free throws and stats. We were shooting about 55 or 60 percent. Some of our guys are better than that.
“We work on them everyday too. It's like any game if you don't make shots, it hurts you. When you don't make those free throws that really kills you.”
Bluefield kept the pressure on to start the third quarter as they forced a Cavalier turnover. They turned that into a Collier floater before Manns added a jumper and Eades hit two free throws. Greenbrier West answered with a quick 7-3 run, but the pressure was too much to handle.
The Cavaliers turned the ball over on their next two possessions and the Beavers turned them into five points as the rout was on.
“That's tough. You can't simulate that in practice,” Fitzwater said of Bluefield's defensive pressure. “We tried to put a couple extra guys out there in practice. We told them to catch the ball, turn and step back and then when they come up on you try to step through.
“We didn't step through and we dribble before we took off. They deflected two or three passes which lead to easy baskets. That's Bluefield basketball.”
Bluefield's lead grew to 58-27 after three quarters. The Beavers continued to add on to their lead in the final eight minutes as it built to 33 points on several occasions.
Collier finished with a double-double as he had 13 points, 13 assists and six steals. Manns added 10 points, seven boards and two blocks. Eades had a team-high 24 points while Trimble chipped in with 15 points.
Martin led Greenbrier West with 13 points including two slams. Bryant had 11 points.
Bluefield advances to the championship game on Friday night against the winner of PikeView and James Monroe. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Princeton Senior High School. The Beavers also advance to next week’s regional play.
“We have to get back to work,” Large said. “Even though we won, there are several things we didn't a very good job at. That's what coaching is about and what practice is about, correct those mistakes. Try to teach these young men what we can to better and eliminate some mistakes.”
—Contact Jonathan Greene
at jgreene@bdtonline.com

At Princeton Senior High School
GREENBRIER WEST (13-10)
Josh Callison 2 2-4 7, Corey Cox 0 0-0 0, Austin Ranson 0 0-0 0, Chase Bryant 5 1-3 11, Jimmy Walkup 2 1-2 7, Alex Hendrix, 1 0-0 2, Brandon Gwinn 1 0-0 2, Colby Ennis 1 1-2 3, Josh Martin 6 1-3 13, Markell Mosley 0 0-0 0, Kaleb Hamrick 0 0-0 0, Pat Hendrix 0 0-0 0, Aaron Moore 0 0-0 0, Chase McClung 0 0-1 0, Josh Ennis 0 0-0 0. Totals- 18 6-15 45.
BLUEFIELD (22-1)
K.J. Manns 5 0-0 10, Harley Trimble 5 5-5 15, Lykel Collier 6 1-1 13, Michael Yost 2 0-0 4, Anthony Eades 8 4-4 24, D.J. Edwards 2 5-6 9, Que Amaker 0 0-0 0, Jordan Ponder 1 0-0 3, Dakota Smalls 0 0-0 0, Trevor Mullins 0 0-0 0, David Woodrum 0 0-0 0. Totals- 29 15-16 78.
Greenbrier West...................9 8 10 18 — 45
Bluefield.............................21 14 23 20 — 78
3 pt field goals: GW 3 (Walkup 2, Callison); BLF 5 (Eades 4, Ponder). Fouled out: None.