Devils set up rematch with Warriors

By Gary Fauber Register-Herald Assistant Sports Editor

BECKLEY — The best thing about Oak Hill’s sectional win over Shady Spring?

It’s over.

The Red Devils beat the Tigers 58-43 Tuesday night in the Class AA Region 3, Section 1 tournament in an equally uninspired game at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center. The win secured not only a spot in Saturday’s championship game against Wyoming East, but also a game in next week’s Region 3 tournament.

“A win’s a win, and all wins are good,” Oak Hill coach Fred Ferri said. “I thought Shady Spring did a great job of trying to do what they thought they needed to do to win the game.”

Which was, stop junior forward Kalif Wright from dominating. Wright had scored 22 and 28 points in a pair of 20-point Oak Hill wins in the regular season, but was held to two in the first half of the sectional battle.

“Kalif had hurt them so much that they really stopped Kalif and got him a little frustrated,” Ferri said. “But we had some guys step up and hit some shots. That’s what you have to do if they sag back like that. Your outside guys have to come through.”

Noah Smith hit a pair of timely three-pointers and DeAndré Leonard stepped up with a game-high 20 points.

And Wright finally broke through. He scored 11 points in the third quarter to finish the game with 13.

“We had to change up and try some different things (in the third quarter),” Shady coach Steve Clark said. “And when we did, it allowed him to be in some one-on-one situations. He’s a good player.”

The Tigers (11-9) did themselves no favors offensively. They shot just 25 percent from the floor in the first half and never recovered. The shots started falling in the fourth quarter, but after Oak Hill was well in command.

“That’s hard to overcome,” Clark said. “I thought we held them in check fairly well. If your shooters are not hitting, sometimes they’re on and sometimes they’re off. Tonight, we just didn’t shoot the ball very well.”

Ferri felt his team’s defense came through.

“I thought a big key, especially the first quarter, was our defense was really good,” he said. “I thought they really, really had a hard time getting a decent look at all. I thought our guards really put pressure on their guards, and with Jack (Flournoy) and Kalif inside, I thought we really, really made it tough on them getting looks.”

Flournoy finished with 11 points for Oak Hill (15-3).

“If you would have told me before the game that Kalif would get 13 and Jack get 11, there’s no way you would have convinced me we would have lost,” Clark said.

Erik Davis and Chase Conner scored 13 and 10, respectively, to lead the Tigers.

— E-mail: gfauber@

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Oak Hill 58, Shady Spring 43

Shady Spring (11-9)

Chase Conner 4 1-2 10, Erik Davis 5 0-0 13, Kevin Goodson 4 0-0 8, Corey Lilly 1 2-2 4, Matt Severt 4 0-0 8. Totals: 18 3-4 43.

Oak Hill (15-3)

DeAndré Leonard 8 3-4 20, Jack Flournoy 3 5-6 11, Kyle Colon 3 1-3 8, Noah Smith 2 0-0 6, Kalif Wright 6 1-2 13. Totals: 22 10-15 58.

SS    6    9    9    19    —    43

OH    15    13    15    15    —    58

Three-point goals: SS: 4 (Davis 3, Conner); OH: 4 (Smith 2, Leonard, Colon); Fouled out: none.

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