Thursday night’s girls basketball clash between Beckley and PikeView was a game of runs.
Just when the visiting Panthers appeared to have made the final decisive run, Flying Eagles senior guard Abby Dillon called game.
With her team trailing 66-65 in the waning seconds, Dillon drove hard to the lane for an old school 3-point play, enough for the game winning margin.
“I was very, very nervous, but I had faith in myself and my teammates were right there behind me,” Dillon said. “I got past the defender and I saw the lane open. I saw the big coming, but I knew I just had to go strong.”
Dillon’s play offset a wild comeback by the visitors, who trailed 63-57 as the clock moved inside two minutes.
With her team in dire straights, it was PikeView senior Riley Meadows that looked to be the hero of the night.
After Haley Justice scored inside and converted the charity toss following a foul, Meadows took over.
Two free throws were followed by a huge steal and a quick timeout. Out of the break, Meadows curled down the lane to give the Panthers their only lead of the contest at 66-65.
“Riley made a great play there where she stole the ball,” PikeView head coach Tony Mallamaci said. “She saw she was in a little trouble there and she called timeout. That was a senior play right there.”
With his team now trailing, Beckley head coach Brian Nabors made it clear how his team approached the final seconds.
“Time was on our side. We were down one, but we were going to take the last shot. We were going to win it or lose it with the last shot,” Nabors said. “At 10 seconds we were going to take it to the basket and everybody else was to come in from behind, ready to rebound. (Abby) got a seam and went strong to the basket. It was a big-time play.”
PikeView did have time to attack for one last shot, but Beckley forced a turnover which sealed the win.
“There was a moment there that I should have called a timeout and tried to set up something. I feel bad about that,” Mallamaci said. “Not that I would have had some magical play, but I would have liked to have had a shot. It is one of those games that will cause you to not get any sleep. The kids played their hearts out though. I have no complaints about them at all.”
On three separate occasions in the first three quarters, the Flying Eagles led by 11 points and took an nine point lead into the final eight minutes, only to see PikeView battle back.
“I thought we came out in the first four to fives minutes and we set the tone. I thought we were really good defensively and I thought we battled. I thought we played tough,” Nabors said. “(Haley) Justice is a hard matchup. She is strong and (Riley) Meadows is an all-stater that has scored 1,000 points. Those girls can play and PikeView is well-coached. We lost our intensity and we tried to get it back. I was proud we were able to hit some big shots to keep us in the lead.”
Some of the lapses by the home team came from new rotations. Mya Wooten and Donya Burton were making returns after extended absences and Beckley was also without all-stater Josie Cross.
“We need Mya to help us. She is an asset and we need to get her some game minutes where we are struggling defensively. Donya is just coming back, so she is a little out of sync which is natural. Not having Josie really hurts,” Nabors said. “That is 20 points and at least eight rebounds per game. At the same time, we have to have girls step up. The main thing is we have to be better defensively. We gave up way too many driving lines, not staying in front of the ball. We just had a few brain freezes there, but it is a learning experience.”
Dillon led all scorers with 23 points, while Zoey Williams added 12 and Burton had nine. Meadows paced PikeView with 21 points. Jaelynn Shrewsbury added 16 and Justice scored 13.
PV: 11 15 15 25 – 66
B: 15 16 19 18 – 68
PikeView
Seyona Waldron 2, Tylar Burks 4, Jaelynn Shrewsbury 16, Haley Justice 13, Jocelyn Hall 6, Karis Trump 2,Emma Rye 2, Riley Meadows 21.
Beckley
Mya Wooten 3, Abby Dillon 23, Lithena Hazelwood 5, Avalon Lynch 4, Donya Burton 9, Karsyn Gunter 4, Zoey Williams 12, Alauna Ellis 8.
