BECKLEY, W.Va. — Without junior guard Zyon Hawthorne in the lineup, Woodrow Wilson head coach Ron Kidd needed a young player to replace his production at least to some degree in Tuesday’s contest against Raleigh County rival Shady Spring.
Jahden Robinson answered the call by scoring a dozen points off the bench as Beckley improved to 2-1 on the season against the Tigers, winning 54-52 at the Raleigh County Convention Center.
Previously, each team had won on the others’ home floor. Shady Spring defeated Beckley, 56-52 in the Little General Shootout at the Armory on December 28. The Flying Eagles defeated the Tigers on the road, 58-55 three weeks ago.
“A game like this helps us a whole lot, a rivalry game. We had a lot of people here and they had a lot of people here. It was just a great atmosphere and that has to help you later on,” said Kidd.
“It is great for the community and for Raleigh County. There’s two great teams. Shady is well-coached. I thought our kids responded well against their kids tonight.”
Prior to Tuesday’s matchup, Robinson scored just 15 points at the varsity level all season. Against the defending Class AAA state champions, he hit four triples, with two of those coming in the fourth quarter.
“That was big because it kind of took up the slack for Zyon, who is averaging about 16. So Robinson getting 12 and Lucas Raney hit a three. That kind of covered us there pretty good.”
Hawthorne has missed the last two games. Beckley (10-3) put the brakes on a two-game losing streak.
Neither team led by more than eight points during the game. Shady led 12-9 at the end of the first quarter and 28-26 at halftime. Beckley erased their final deficit of the contest midway through the third quarter on a three-point play from Jaylon Walton to give the Eagles a 34-32 edge. Walton led Beckley with 17 points.
“He acted like he was having fun. I thought he was having fun against them tonight. With that attitude, I think he does a great job. That helps us a whole lot when he plays like that.”
Woodrow Wilson led 39-35 at the end of the third quarter and they extended that cushion to eight points with 6:30 to play. However, the Tigers used an 8-0 run that was capped by a Jack Williams three-pointer to tie the game at 48. Williams scored nine points.
“I think we guarded Jack about as well as we could. We kind of slowed him up. I thought we did a great job on him.”
With 3:30 left on the clock and the score tied at 48, Robinson hit his fourth and final three-pointer to give Beckley a three-point lead. Shady (11-2) however would score the next three points. Jalon Bailey’s driving layup with 1:30 left tied the score at 51.
On the next trip down the floor, AJ Thomas fed Walton in the post and the 6-foot-7 senior connected from close range to give Beckley a lead they would not relinquish.
“That’s kind of what we were doing early in the season. When teams would come back on us, we would respond. The last two games, we didn’t respond that same way when teams came back on us. But tonight, we did.”
Bailey led all scorers with 22 points. Coby Dillon added 10 points for the Flying Eagles.