Published: November 18, 2007 12:28 am         

Beckley duo enjoy homecoming, despite lopsided loss

For William Dillard, it was like Christmas came early when he found out his Alice Lloyd team would be playing Mountain State.

It meant one more game for Dillard in the armory.

For his longtime teammate at Woodrow and Alice Lloyd, Corey Hairston, the excitement was hard to contain.

The Woodrow Wilson alums got their wish Saturday when they returned to the Raleigh County Convention Center for the first time since the 2004 Scott Brown Memorial Classic.

The homecoming didn’t go as smoothly as planned. NAIA Division I No. 3 MSU knocked out the Eagles 96-69.

Yet, it was home. And Dillard and Hairston each was prominently displayed in the Alice Lloyd offense.

Hairston had a team-high 15 points and tied for the team lead with six boards and Dillard added 13 points and dished out a team-high eight assists.

“It was like Christmas,” Dillard, who is majoring in pharmacy at Alice Lloyd, said of Saturday’s game. “When coach told us we were going to playing here, it was like opening a present from under the tree. Corey and I had both begged coach to schedule a game here. I never thought I’d play here again.”

Ditto Hairston, who with Dillard helped the 2004 Woodrow Wilson team win a Class AAA state title — the last title not won by Huntington.

“I couldn’t help but get excited,” Hairston said. “ I found out over the summer. The closer it got to getting here, the harder it was to focus on anything else. We wanted to come back so bad and play well.”

Both did that.

It was at the armory where coach Gary Gibson saw his dynamic duo.

“I was at the game when they played Oak Hill Academy (in the Coal Classic),” Gibson said. “I had heard about them and wanted to see them play. We needed a point, a pivot and a two or three man. With one trip here, we got all three (Woodrow’s Brent Prichard played there as a freshman but has since left the team). That was the game I used to sell them on playing at Alice Lloyd.”

Both acknowledged they would have entertained thoughts of staying home at playing at MSU, where they still play in the summer when home on vacation.

“But I think this worked out best,” said Dillard, who has started all 64 games he has played at Alice Lloyd. “I don’t think I could have found a better school for me. Corey and I went down there and hustled, played hard early, and it’s really worked out for us.”

“You always want to play, and we have definitely been given a chance to play,” said Hairston, a business administration major, who, like Dillard, has played since his freshman year. “I am really happy with everything that’s happened.”

For his career, Dillard has averaged a tad over 10 points per game and has 300 assists.

“You don’t find speed like that often,” Gibson said. “He has the ability to break people down. He showed a little of that today against a really good team.”

Hairston has averaged just over nine points and six rebounds per game.

“He has always been a good rebounder, and over the course of his career, his shooting has really improved.”

Gibson considers the two juniors leaders.

“We don’t have any seniors,” he said. “We look for leadership from Will and Corey both on and off the court. I’ll tell you this: I would love to have a bunch more like those two. Above everything else, they are good men.”