By JED LOCKETT
Bluefield Daily Telegraph
PRINCETON — Friday night’s West Virginia Class AA Region III Section 2 championship game contained wild swings of emotion and changes of momentum like tidal waves.
That emotion began long before the opening tip when the bus carrying the Bluefield Beavers broke down en route to Princeton Senior High School.
The Beavers were unfazed by the mishap that befell them, rushing out to a 17-2 lead in the first quarter.
But PikeView was equally unfazed by their opponents as they rode those tidal waves to cut the lead to two points before halftime then used a 25-4 third quarter to win the sectional title 69-60.
“A game like this against your county rival, both teams were ranked in the state, there’s really nothing to describe it,” said PikeView head coach Bill Anderson. “Both teams came out and gave their all. If a person was at home listening to it on the radio, they could only imagine what was going on. I think this is a game that people will talk about for a couple of years.”
“They didn’t get rattled once we got up big and they kept their composure and came right back at us,” said Bluefield head coach Buster Large.
While the coaches were reveling in the roller coaster they had just ridden, PikeView’s players were busy celebrating their accomplishment.
"It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” said senior Tanner Ratcliff. “It eans everything. Most of (the seniors) played football with me, too. It’s like they’re my own kin. I would do anything for them. I love them to death and I’m glad I got to share this experience with them.”
The game began with the Beavers (16-7) running hot and the Panthers (16-4) ice cold. Bluefield attacked from the outset, forcing PikeView into mistakes. The Beavers went just 3-for-9 from the field in the opening eight minutes, but made up for it by forcing the Panthers into foul trouble. PikeView committed nine fouls in the first eight minutes and Bluefield took advantage, making 10 of their 12 first-quarter foul shots.
The result of Bluefield’s aggressiveness and PikeView’s timidness was a 17-2 run to open the game. Late in the period, Anderson called a 30 second time out and delivered a game-changing message.
“We weren’t running any offense. We weren’t getting any shots and the defense wasn’t where it was supposed to be,” Anderson said. “If we don’t get our act together, we’re going to find ourself down by 20 or 30 and we couldn’t come back from that. It was their time. They had to come out and play or go home.”
“He told us we needed to pick it up and play ball like we know how, step up on defense,” Symns said. “We came through at halftime, hit some big shots.”
"Everybody was playing all tense. Everybody was nervous,” Ratcliff said. “He just told everybody to relax, start playing fundamental basketball, quit trying all of this one-on-one stuff and hopefully the game will come.”
Message received. The Panthers began to slowly claw their way back into the game. Field goals that had not fallen during their 2-for-12 first quarter went in during a 9-for-19 second quarter. The defense also stepped up in the period, forcing eight turnovers from a team that did not commit a single one during the opening period.
After the first eight minutes, the momentum and emotion clearly rested on Bluefield’s side of the packed-to-capacity gymnasium. But as the second eight minutes unfolded, it slowly swung to the PikeView faithful until they were at a near-frenzy as their team went into the halftime break down 30-28.
“We told them that coming back wasnt going to be done all at once,” Anderson said. “They had to chip away at their lead, get it to where it was manageable and then take it from there. They had to be patient in their offenses and defenses.”
“In these big games, you’ve got to play four quarters,” Large said. “In these kind of games, when someone makes a run you’ve got to keep your composure and you’ve got to even that run.”
In the second quarter, the Panthers got back into the game. In the third quarter, they made it their own. PikeView exploded, continuing their torrid shooting pace with an 8-for-17 period that included 2-for-4 from outside the arc and 7-for-11 from the foul line. With help from the Panthers, Bluefield’s offense imploded, going just 2-for-15 from the field in the third period. When it was over, the Panthers had finished a 25-4 run to take a 53-34 lead and full control of the game.
"We sat down at halftime and went over everything that they did to us and everything we could do to counteract what they did,” Anderson said. “Then we diagrammed everything coming down the floor which would have a little more structure to it. And then you have to have pressure and then be ready to take the charge, be ready to step in and take the ball.”
“I told our kids at halftime I felt we had to win the third quarter because I felt like at the end of the second quarter they had the emotional lift,” Large said. “We were totally out of sync. But you’ve got to give them credit. They played a fine game.”
But it was far from over. The Beavers responded with the first eight points of the final quarter to cut the PikeView advantage to 53-42. The Panthers responded with an 8-2 run — which was met with a 10-1 Bluefield run that made the score 62-54 with 1:28 to play. But that was as far as Bluefield’s momentum could take them and PikeView celebrated moments later.
PikeView’s victory was a victory for the group as a team. But junior Tommy Symns stood out, hitting several clutch shots during the onslaught, going 8-for-10 from the foul line and leading the Panthers with 20 points, a performance that earned him the honor of tournament MVP.
“Ben Nester and Tanner Ratcliff told me to step it up and play my game and shoot how much I wanted to,” Symns said. “And I did.”
“The last four or five games, he’s been scoring in single digits,” Anderson said. “But he’s worked on his assists and defense and rebounds. We’ve told him the last couple days that we needed him to step up and shoot the ball.”
But the Panthers showed their balance as three other players finished the game in double digits. Senior Jordan Weitzel had 14 points, junior Ben Nester had 12 and Ratcliff had 10. All three joined Symns on the all-tournament team.
“We’re a team that was blessed with balance,” Anderson said. “I don’t think a team could focus on any one of our players. All of the players we have, we’re all role players.”
Bluefield was led by Craig Ponder’s 18 points and 10 rebounds. But even though he had clutch plays of his own, he fouled out with 5:59 to play, taking away one of the Beavers’ main weapons. J.D. Dewitt (12 points) and Joe Woodrum (nine points, 11 rebounds) tried to compensate, but it was not enough.
Bluefield will travel to play the winner Wyoming East-Oak Hill game at 7 p.m. Thursday with a trip to Charleston for the state tournament on the line.
“We’ve got to find a way to get these kids back up,” Large said. “We have to motivate these kids to instill in them that they still have a chance to get to Charleston. We’ve got good kids, great attitude and they’ll be up for the challenge Thursday.”
PikeView will face the loser of that game, also on Thursday at 7 p.m.
“We’ll celebrate tonight,” Anderson said. “At 10 o’clock tomorrow morning we’ll be back at work.”
Mount View Teddy Hazzard, James Monroe’s John Ballengee, Greenbrier West’s Cameron McQuain and Chase Fitzwater, and Summers County’s Scotty Hannah and Russell Scott joined Woodrum, Ponder and Byron Steptoe on the all-tournament team.
— Contact Jed Lockett
at jlockett@bdtonline.com
At Princeton Senior High School
BLUEFIELD (16-7)
Courtney Wallace 1-2 2-2 4, J.D. Dewitt 4-8 0-0 12, Damian Price 0-2 0-0 0, Kyle Harris 2-10 0-3 4, Craig Ponder 4-11 10-12 18, Trey Williams 0-2 2-2 2, Joe Woodrum 2-4 5-6 9, Byron Steptoe 4-14 0-0 9, Leo Gimenez 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 18-54 19-25 60.
PIKEVIEW (16-4)
Jordan Weitzel 5-13 3-4 14, Joel Calfee 0-3 0-0 0, Brandon Flinchum 1-1 2-2 4, Ben Nester 3-8 6-9 12, Josh Neal 1-4 1-2 3, Tanner Ratcliff 3-5 2-2 10, Tommy Symns 5-17 8-10 20, David Keen 1-1 0-0 2, William Webster 0-0 0-0 0, Josh Blankenship 1-1 0-3 2, Corey Clark 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 21-55 22-32 69.
Bluefield..................17 13 4 26 — 60
PikeView...................4 24 25 16 — 69
3-Point Goals, Bluefield 5-13 (Dewitt 4-6, Steptoe 1-5, Harris 0-1, Wallace 0-1). PikeView 5-17 (Ratcliff 2-3, Symns 2-5, Weitzel 1-6, Calfee 0-1, Nester 0-2). Rebounds, Bluefield 38 (Woodrum 11, Ponder 10). PikeView 28 (Neal 5, Symns 5). Blocks, Bluefield 3 (Harris, Ponder, Woodrum). PikeView 2 (Clark, Nester). Turnovers, Bluefield 16. PikeView 14.
