By Brian Woodson
For The Register-Herald
ATHENS — The Oak Hill “trees” get the headlines, but it was Deandre Leonard who was the key.
Leonard scored 10 points and had three steals and two assists — all in the third quarter — leading Oak Hill to a 59-49 Region 3 victory over PikeView Thursday night at a packed Concord University Carter Center.
Oak Hill (18-4), which was coming off a 24-point loss to Wyoming East in the Section 1 title game last Saturday, will return to Charleston for the Class AA state tournament for the fourth straight season.
“After we lost on Saturday and we played so poorly, at Monday’s practice I said don’t you even mention Wyoming East,” said coach Fred Ferri, whose Red Devils received a combined 31 points from 6-foot-6 towers Kalif Wright and Jack Flournoy. “I don’t want to hear about that game; if one guy says something we’re running.
“You have to put it behind you, you played poorly, but I just didn’t think we could play that poorly again. We just worked on our offense and our kids played well tonight.”
PikeView (16-5), which led 20-18 at the break, struggled to make shots, fell behind 37-32 after three quarters and never got closer than six in the final period.
“We had open shots, but they didn’t fall,” PikeView coach Bill Anderson said.
“I think I said before that one team is going to get hot and you’ve got to stop them, and we weren’t able to stop.”
The loss marked the final game for seven seniors who helped lead the Panthers to the Region 3, Section 2 championship last week.
Junior Tommy Symns led PikeView with 15 points and six rebounds. Jordan Weitzel scored 12 in his final game for the Panthers, while Josh Neal added seven points and nine boards.
“This has been an exceptional group of seniors. There is no quit in them, never has been since they were freshmen,” Anderson said. “They’ve left a very strong legacy and left something to build on.
“We have a good nucleus coming back next year and we’ll build on that. Our seven seniors are very, very exceptional.”
The Red Devils were dominant inside against the Panthers, led by Wright, who finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and four steals, and Flournoy, who tallied 11 points, 10 boards and three assists.
“We’re bigger than them. That’s our strength,” said Ferri, whose Devils also got nine points from Kyle Colon. “Their strength is their guards, our strength is our pivot guys, so we use our strengths.
“I thought our kids played well. I’m proud of them. I thought they played hard and they beat a very good team.”
Leonard, a lightning-fast 6-2 junior guard, finished with 15 points, seven assists and three steals, but he was especially potent in the third quarter.
“Jack and Kalif get all the publicity, but I told Deandre before the season started that ‘you are the key to our team,’” Ferri said. “When he plays well, we’re a really good team, and I really thought he stepped it up in the second half.”
Leonard added, “Coach told me, ‘You’re running the team, you’ve got to take over the game for us. You are our point guard, you are the key to this team, so be a leader and step up when we need you,’ so that is what I did.”
PikeView trailed 31-28 with 2:12 left in the third period, but the Devils scored six straight points, including a Leonard steal and full-court dash to the other end for a layup and a 37-28 lead.
“When I got that steal and I scored and the crowd went crazy, that made me want to do it again, to come out here and give it my all and go to states,” Leonard said. “Our goal is to win state this year.”
While the Panthers went 3:44 without a field goal, the Devils kept up the pressure in the final period, going on a 10-2 run to take a 47-34 lead with 4:53 on the clock, and PikeView could never get closer than six, 53-47, with 1:11 left in the game.
Wright had eight points, six boards and two steals in the final quarter.
The seedings for the Class AA tournament will be released today. The Red Devils plan to stay for a while.
“Everyone is good. You’ve got eight teams and everyone is good,” Ferri said. “We’ll work hard in practice three or four days, and we’re going to win so we’ve got to play well. There cannot be any bad games anymore.”
Leonard would love another shot at Wyoming East, which is 3-1 this season against the Red Devils, including that embarrassing loss in the sectional championship game.
“That is our second time losing by 20 to Wyoming East and we’re getting tired of it,” Leonard said. “We came out here and made a statement and now we’re going to states and we’re heading for them.”
