BECKLEY - Everything about the game seemed to say that the Oak Hill-Woodrow Wilson contest had lost some of its electricity.
BECKLEY - Everything about the game seemed to say that the Oak Hill-Woodrow Wilson contest had lost some of its electricity.
That's from the lower-than-usual national rankings for the Warriors to the almost half-empty arena at the Raleigh County Convention Center, even to the dunk-o-meter that registered a meager three for the perennial prep power.
But try telling that to a scrappy bunch from Woodrow, which actually had the Warriors sweating in the second half before falling 71-62 Wednesday night at the Coal Classic.
It was the closest game for Oak Hill (Va.) against a state team since it became a regular visitor to the Coal Classic in 1999. The Warriors won their previous 13 by an average of 37 points.
That from a Flying Eagles team that grew short-handed this week when two of its five double-figure scorers - post players Cameron Hallcomb and Vashawn Wood - were dropped from the squad for academic reasons.
"I don't know about the score [being close],'' said Woodrow interim coach Steve Kidd, "but I thought our kids played hard and fought hard. We weren't intimidated at all. I thought we had kids who could play with them and we proved that we could.''
Oak Hill, ranked No. 5 in the country by Rivals.com and No. 19 by USA Today, has had a lot more close games this year, said veteran coach Steve Smith.
The Warriors went 40-1 each of the two previous seasons and last year won Smith's seventh national title. People have come to expect 100 points and high-flying acrobatics from Oak Hill every night.
"They don't know our team this year,'' Smith said. "We've had a lot of games similar to this. We're 23-3 and we've had 10 games inside 10 points. We're not overpowering at all like a lot of Oak Hill teams in the past. We start two sophomores and two juniors, and the first two subs are juniors.
"It's good for the future, but it makes us have growing pains. We're not putting teams away when we should and letting them hang around. It's nerve wracking. You've got to coach a lot more, at least on game night. I used to coach in practice and have the best seat for the games. But now I don't sit down too much. With young guys, you've got to teach and coach in practice and teach and coach in games.''
Oak Hill's top players are guard and Arizona recruit Brandon Jennings, who averages 30-plus points (he had 24 Wednesday), and 6-foot-9, 300-plus-pound Keith "Tiny'' Gallon, who added 15 points and stroked one of the team's six 3-pointers.
Woodrow will get another lift Friday when coach Ron Kidd returns to the bench. Ron Kidd, cousin of Steve, has been sidelined with health problems.
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The roller-coaster season keeps on scraping around corners for Nitro.
The Wildcats (7-6) have played well enough this season to beat teams like No. 8 Woodrow Wilson, but at other times have lost to teams like 4-8 Riverside.
And of course, the cast of characters keeps changing.
Nitro sports its fourth coach in four seasons following the resignation of Tex Williams earlier this month for personal reasons. Jeff Null, a former assistant, now serves as interim head coach.
Three players - all regulars - have quit the team since the season started, and the Wildcats played without Dee Hill for a second time Wednesday after he was slapped with a pair of technical fouls Monday against Ripley, forcing a two-game suspension.
BECKLEY - Everything about the game seemed to say that the Oak Hill-Woodrow Wilson contest had lost some of its electricity.
That's from the lower-than-usual national rankings for the Warriors to the almost half-empty arena at the Raleigh County Convention Center, even to the dunk-o-meter that registered a meager three for the perennial prep power.
But try telling that to a scrappy bunch from Woodrow, which actually had the Warriors sweating in the second half before falling 71-62 Wednesday night at the Coal Classic.
It was the closest game for Oak Hill (Va.) against a state team since it became a regular visitor to the Coal Classic in 1999. The Warriors won their previous 13 by an average of 37 points.
That from a Flying Eagles team that grew short-handed this week when two of its five double-figure scorers - post players Cameron Hallcomb and Vashawn Wood - were dropped from the squad for academic reasons.
"I don't know about the score [being close],'' said Woodrow interim coach Steve Kidd, "but I thought our kids played hard and fought hard. We weren't intimidated at all. I thought we had kids who could play with them and we proved that we could.''
Oak Hill, ranked No. 5 in the country by Rivals.com and No. 19 by USA Today, has had a lot more close games this year, said veteran coach Steve Smith.
The Warriors went 40-1 each of the two previous seasons and last year won Smith's seventh national title. People have come to expect 100 points and high-flying acrobatics from Oak Hill every night.
"They don't know our team this year,'' Smith said. "We've had a lot of games similar to this. We're 23-3 and we've had 10 games inside 10 points. We're not overpowering at all like a lot of Oak Hill teams in the past. We start two sophomores and two juniors, and the first two subs are juniors.
"It's good for the future, but it makes us have growing pains. We're not putting teams away when we should and letting them hang around. It's nerve wracking. You've got to coach a lot more, at least on game night. I used to coach in practice and have the best seat for the games. But now I don't sit down too much. With young guys, you've got to teach and coach in practice and teach and coach in games.''
Oak Hill's top players are guard and Arizona recruit Brandon Jennings, who averages 30-plus points (he had 24 Wednesday), and 6-foot-9, 300-plus-pound Keith "Tiny'' Gallon, who added 15 points and stroked one of the team's six 3-pointers.
Woodrow will get another lift Friday when coach Ron Kidd returns to the bench. Ron Kidd, cousin of Steve, has been sidelined with health problems.
nnn
The roller-coaster season keeps on scraping around corners for Nitro.
The Wildcats (7-6) have played well enough this season to beat teams like No. 8 Woodrow Wilson, but at other times have lost to teams like 4-8 Riverside.
And of course, the cast of characters keeps changing.
Nitro sports its fourth coach in four seasons following the resignation of Tex Williams earlier this month for personal reasons. Jeff Null, a former assistant, now serves as interim head coach.
Three players - all regulars - have quit the team since the season started, and the Wildcats played without Dee Hill for a second time Wednesday after he was slapped with a pair of technical fouls Monday against Ripley, forcing a two-game suspension.
Add to that frustrations of losing some close games and Nitro players could be at wit's end. But leading scorer Brett McClanahan disputed that notion.
"We definitely have potential,'' he said. "Any team is going to be up and down throughout the regular season. As long as we keep competing, we can play well come tournament time, and we'll be all right.''
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About the only down note for Capital in Tuesday's 95-59 rout of Bridgeport was a case of leg cramps that shut down Malik Witten, the team's leading scorer, in the fourth quarter.
Cougar coach Carl Clark said cramps have been a nagging problem for Witten.
"I think his calves are bruised,'' Clark said after the game. "He's having some problems with it right now, and we're trying to keep those cramps out. I don't know had bad they are, or if it will affect him playing the next game.''
Capital meets Veritas Christian (N.C.) at 6 p.m. today.
The Cougars have advanced to the Class AAA finals of the Coal Classic at 9 p.m. Saturday against Friday's Woodrow Wilson-Nitro winner. Each team in the AAA division gets one game against a team from the national division that doesn't have a bearing on its status in the AAA bracket.
But a word to the wise in case Capital fans are thinking of heading down the Turnpike for Saturday's game. The late games the first three days of the tournament started at 9:30, 9:43 and 9:41 (instead of 9) because the preceding games ran long.
Only 90 minutes are allotted for each high school game in the week-long hoops fest, and elementary games are sprinkled into some of the breaks between high school games.
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Right or not, when a small-school athlete finds himself or herself in the running for the state player of the year award, inevitably the question surfaces about how well the player would do against a Class AAA schedule.
Jolysa Brown, a senior post player for AA No. 2 Summers County, faced a big challenge Wednesday night in a girls semifinal game at the Coal Classic against Parkersburg South, the unbeaten and top-ranked team in AAA.
Brown did OK in the showdown, finishing with 13 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks and two assists in a game that was often played at an end-to-end breakneck pace. However, she did have 10 of her team's 27 turnovers.
"You always want to play your hardest,'' Brown said afterward, "especially against the No. 1 triple-A team. I don't know if we did that.''
Coach Wayne Ryan said Summers looked at the game as an opportunity for the team and for Brown.
"You always want a kid who's a good player to play well in this type of environment,'' he said. "You hope she plays well, and the better she plays will better your chances.''
To contact assistant sports editor Rick Ryan, send e-mail to rickr...@wvgazette.com or call 348-5175.
