Bluefield – Westside drove a long way for a quick decision Tuesday night.
The Renegades made just one shot in the first 11 minutes of their regional matchup with Bluefield, falling to the Beavers 88-54 at Bluefield High School.
By the time the second quarter rolled around, the game was decided as the Beavers ripped a 38-0 run for a 40-2 lead with five minutes to play in the second half.
There were largely two contributing factors for the stark differential – turnovers and 3-pointers. Westside turned the ball over 15 times in the opening frame alone while the Beavers netted five 3s over that span and 11 for the game.
“Our defense is what we strive for,” Bluefield head coach Tony Webster said. “I’m a defensive coach and it’s coming along. It’s not been where it needs to be but I think tonight – we had two losses last week but we have not put four quarters together yet. I think we did tonight and we played hard. I felt like our effort tonight was really good and our kids shot the ball well. I saw a little switch turn on tonight. I never thought this game would turn out like this but we had a good practice, practice hard and watched a lot of film. The kids played hard so I’m really pleased with their effort.”
Fast starts from Bradyn Waldron had buoyed Westside efforts over the last week (0-3 against three ranked teams) but the Beavers never allowed him to get going, holding him to just four shot attempts in the first half.
As a result a lethargic Westside team made just 1 of 9 field goal attempts in the opening frame despite forcing eight Bluefield turnovers.
A frustrated Westside head coach Michael Asbury politely declined to speak after the game.
There was ultimately little to add.
The brightest the Renegade outlook occurred early in the first quarter when Hendrix Cook knotted the game at 2-2 before the 38-0 avalanche hit.
The first flurry came on a Jase Smith 3-pointer followed by a Davion Hickman steal and layup. Smith added a layup before Ricky Dunford nailed the first of his 8 3-pointers for a 12-2 lead. Needing life raft the Renegades continued the drown.
The Beavers continued to hold them under when Hickman nailed a 3 to make it 21-2, followed by consecutive Dunford treys to push the lead well past 20. When the first quarter horn sounded the game was well in hand with the Beavers up 29-2.
“Ricky’s worked, he’s worked on his shot,” Webster said. “It hadn’t been going early but I could tell he was in the gym and he was getting that shot. I told Ricky, I said, ‘Ricky you have to make some shots to make us a lot better because then they have to get you then we can kick down to Grayson (Parris).’ And Jase shot the ball well but overall Our kids, last year was a humbling experience for me and them kids. We put the work in in the offseason to be in this situation.
Cook later broke the run with 5:05 to play in the half with a three-point play but the advantage never sunk below 25 points.
For Westside the loss brings to a head a four-game slide that moves the Renegades to 2-3 in regional play with consecutive losses to James Monroe, Wyoming East and Bluefield while the Beavers even out at 1-1 in pursuit of home court advantage in the postseason.
“It’s huge because our region is one of the toughest in double-A,” Webster said. “You take our top five or six and they can all go to the state tournament. That one or two seed is real important. I’m sure – we don’t want to go to Wyoming East and Wyoming East don’t want to go to us. It’s early, there’s a lot of basketball still to be played. We just want to improve each night, each day, each practice and see where it all may fall.”
Dunford’s 26 punt led all players while Smith netted 20.
Cooper Hatfield led Westside with 12 points.
Westside
Bradyn Waldron 7, Jacob Mullins 3, Ethan Cline 2, Ethan Walls 6, Hendrix Cook 9, Cooper Hatfield 12, Breyden Vance 4, Logan McNeely 4, Jaylon Walls 2, Zane Cook 2, Malachi King 3
Bluefield
Davion Hickman 4, Amari Helm 11, Isaiah Mitchell 2, Ricky Dunford 26, Devin Totten 8, Jase Smith 20, Grayson Parris 6, Chris Mills 5, Jamirion Owens 3, Breden Pennington 2
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