BLUEFIELD – The Mount View Golden Knights, despite falling behind Greater Beckley Christian 25-6 at the end of
the first quarter Saturday evening in the Class A Region III Section 2 championship game at the Ned Shott Gymnasium
on the campus of Bluefield State College, refused to throw in the towel and battled the Crusaders until the very end.
GBC took the title 56-46, but not before some scary moments from the never-say-quit Golden Knights.
Over the final three frames, the View outscored Greater Beckley 40-31, including 19-11 in the second and 13-7 in the
fourth chapter.
Despite the setback, the Knights still have a chance of making the state tournament playoff field if they can top
Charleston Catholic next Wednesday in a Regional co-final game to be played in Charleston.
Saturday evening, sophomore Tony Bailey paced the 11-13 Golden Knights with 15 points, followed by senior
Zach McCoy’s 13.
Seniors Elijah Edwards and Isiah Hairston led the Crusaders with 16 and 13 points respectively, while sophomore
Kaden Smallwood followed with 10.
Edwards knocked down three trifectas in his total, while Hairston pulled down a dozen rebounds.
GBC improved to 19-4 with the victory and will host defending Class A state champion Webster County also Wednesday,
with the winner of that contest also earning a spot in the state tournament week-after-next.