HS Boys Basketball: Clary's strong play late pushes Beckley past Oak Hill

Preston Clary and Jahden Robertson score 23 points apiece to lead the Flying Eagles to a 66-58 win

Beckley boys basketball standout Preston Clary has been lighting up the scoreboard this year, well, like a Christmas tree.

Monday night after a heartbreaking loss to Capital where the senior guard poured in 32 points, head coach Ron Kidd said his team needed someone to compliment Clary's performances.

Junior Jahden Robertson was that man Tuesday night.

Matching Clary's 23 points with 23 of his own, Robertson drilled seven 3-pointers to help lead Beckley to a 66-58 win over longtime rival Oak Hill inside the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center.

Coach Kidd discussed the win after the game.

Beckley took an early seven-point lead after the first quarter, but as was the case all night, the Red Devils constantly fought back.

Sparked by eight points in the quarter from Tom Jones, Oak Hill took its first lead of the game in the waning seconds on two free throws from Jacob Perdue.

However, when Clary's runner beat the halftime horn, Beckley lead 27-26 at the break.

The Flying Eagles made the first spurt of the second half to push the lead to six points.

Caleb Compton stemmed the tide with a jumper off glass before Brent Conley scored five straight to put Oak Hill up 34-33.

Buckets by Clary and Kingston Clark were answered by an and-1 from Conley to tie the game at 36-apiece.

The story for Beckley mostly centered around Robertson though.

Unsure if he would even play after tweaking an angle Monday night, Robertson nailed three long balls over the final three minutes to give Beckley a 47-39 lead heading to the final quarter.

Clary and Robertson talked about their performances.

Two free tosses from Ta'Ron Thomas moved the advantage to 10 points, but the visitors refused to go quietly.

A floater from Antione Hicks, a Conley runner and a layup from Tom Jones sliced the deficit to four points with six minutes to play.

Trailing later by six points, Conley forced his way to the rim for another and-1 ahead of Clary scoring inside on the other end.

Oak Hill kept battling.

Hicks drove hard to the rack and converted the and-1 before Clary took the lead back to three points with a free throw.

Perdue then trimmed the game back to one with another strong drive to the tin for the Red Devils.

Kingston Clark converted a key stick back for Beckley, but the lead was temporary.

A free throw from Perdue and another Conley score inside tied the game at 58-58 with just over a minute to play.

With the game on the line, Beckley turned to its senior stalwart and Clary delivered.

A strong drive and a score with his left hand, along with two free-throws on the next possession finally separated the game for the Flying Eagles.

Conley led all scorers with 24 points, while Jones had 14 and Hicks scored seven.

A.J. Thomas had seven for Beckley.

OH: 10 16 13 19 - 58

B: 17 10 20 19 - 66

Oak Hill head coach Andy Kees gave his thought on the game for the Red Devils.