Rite of passage: Beavers give Dots pushback in 49-42 state loss
May 6—CHARLESTON — Sometimes one player can be a real pain.
Ethan Payne patrolled the paint all evening and his consistency was enough to enable favored Poca to edge past a battling band of Bluefield Beavers, 49-42, in quarterfinal action of the 2021 West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission tournament.
Bluefield (9-10), which led briefly in the opening half on a Caleb Fuller trey, closed to within two at halftime, 26-24, before the tall and strong Dots (12-4) slowly built a winning advantage in the second half to hold off the youthful BHS quintet.
"We worked hard to get here, and I will say tonight we have a good young team and we will back a year from now," said Bluefield coach Buster Large, whose Beavers were denied a tournament try due to the COVID virus after finished the past campaign on a 15-game winning streak. The 2021 Bluefield squad was heroic in its own way, making headlines with a sectional title and earning the team's 10th straight trip to Charleston.
On Wednesday, the dream was deferred in large part due to Payne, who finished with a team-high 17 points, including six in an 8-0 Poca run in the third stanza as the Dots piled up a 10-point lead and maintained an advantage the rest of the way.
Fuller had a game-high 18 points for the Beavers, the only BHS performer to notch double digits. Flack led Bluefield with four rebounds.
Fuller, who hit a big three pointer at the halftime buzzer, said, "After that shot, we were calm in the locker room and kept our composure, just doing all we could to stay close and give ourselves a chance."
"I was pleased to be able to go strong inside," said Payne after the game. "My size was an advantage and it feels good to win this one."
Dot standout Isaac McKneely, already a Division I commit as a junior, was hard-pressed to equal his usual stats due to a tenacious defensive effort by Jae'on Flack of the Beavers, was also glad for victory but gracious in the spotlight.
"I did not get as big numbers as I do sometimes," noted McKneely, a 6-4 junior star headed to Virginia after next season, " but my teammates stepped and bailed me out. Ethan and Jackson (Toney) were really good tonight. I give all credit to Bluefield — they really gave us all we could handle." Toney hit three treys for the Dots.
McKneely sparkled in the late going to keep the Dots in control, scoring 11 of his 14 point in the second half.
Logan Hyder got Bluefield on the board in the opening minute with a trey and Fuller added another three-pointer to give BHS its only lead, 6-5,with 5:07 to go in the opening period. Chance Johnson also had a good effort for Bluefield, along with Tre Walker.
"We were fortunate," said veteran Poca coach Allen Osborne, "and I can point to a couple of things which made a real difference. We did what we had to do, only having five turnovers and not allowing any offensive rebounds. Bluefield played well, they are a quality team, and our guys made the plays to allow us to get past them. We look forward to playing Friday."
Poca out-rebounded the Beavers 20-15 and were 6-9 at the stripe while the Bluefielders unsuccessfully shot two times at the free throw line. The Beavers hit six three point shots, to the Dots' five.
At Charleston Civic Center
Poca 49, Bluefield 42
BLUEFIELD (9-10)
Logan Hyder 8 Jaylan Green 0, Ja'eon Flack 6, RJ Hairston 6, Caleb Fuller 18, Tre Walker 2, Chance Johnson 2
POCA (13-3)
Isaac McKneely 14, Ethan Payne 17, Kambel Meeks 3, Jackson Toney 11, Toby Payne 2, Jordan Wolfe 2
Bluefield............10 14 5 13 — 42
Poca..................17 9 11 12 — 49
3-point goals — Bluefield 6 (Hyder 2, Fuller 2, Flack 2). Poca 5 (Toney 3, McNeeley, Meeks). Fouled out — Flack.
