Plainly speaking, Woodrow Wilson was taken to the proverbial woodshed the first time it played at South Charleston.

The Flying Eagles had just jumped to No. 1 in the Class AAA Associated Press poll and were riding a perfect 8-0 beginning to the season. It was Woodrow’s best start in over a decade.

That all came crashing down at the hands of South Charleston, which employed what became a suffocating zone, in a 61-45 win at the South Charleston Community Center Jan. 17.

Woodrow Wilson (16-4)  gets a do-over of sorts, when the Flying Eagles make the return trip to the South Charleston Community Center tonight to face South Charleston in the Mountain State Athletic Conference championship game. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m.

Much was made of that zone the Black Eagles employed.

Since then, Woodrow has seen a lot of zone and the Eagles have responded with varying degrees of success.

Against Greenbrier East the Eagles responded well, especially late in the game.

Against Morgantown, there was early success before Morgantown came back to beat the Flying Eagles in the Big Atlantic Classic.

The zone defense, or more precisely Woodrow Wilson’s success against it, has been a hot topic around the team since the loss to South Charleston.

That fact was not lost on Woodrow coach Ron Kidd.

“I think (South Charleston coach Vic Herbert) kind of bragged that they beat us with a zone the last game,” Woodrow coach Ron Kidd said. “I hope our kids take that as a challenge. That’s saying our kids can’t shoot the ball. And we have probably the best shooters in the state of West Virginia as a collective group.”

Senior captain Cameron Shannon agreed.

“Any time somebody challenges you like that, if you’re a competitor you’re going to come back and work on it and get better,” Shannon said. “They slowed us down with that zone. Really, we slowed ourselves down. Whenever we see a zone, we tend to slow down. We can’t do that.”

Junior guard Andrew Johnson said the Flying Eagles have made adjustments but did give kudos to South Charleston’s use of its zone.

“Their zone pretty much killed us,” Johnson said. “Since then, everyone but Martinsburg has played zone. That was the first really good team that played us zone. They’re athletic and they obviously work at that zone.”

In a way, the game is a flip from the first matchup.

Now it is South Charleston who is wearing the crown of No. 1, though that could change this week after a loss to Wheeling Park.

Kidd said the Flying Eagles were hoping for a rematch with South Charleston.

“And we still look at them as the No. 1 team in the state, because that’s what they are until the new (rankings) come out Monday,” he said. “They are a good team and they are well-coached. They will be ready and we have to play at their gym.”

Kidd and his team are happy to have a chance to beat South Charleston.

“Really we wanted the opportunity to play for the overall (MSAC) championship,” Kidd said. “But to get a shot at South Charleston ... I didn’t think our kids played real well the first time. I think we have a lot to prove.”

“Any time a team beats you, you want to get them back,” Shannon said. “That they are No. 1  just adds fuel to the fire.”

The game plan is simple, Kidd said.

“We have to match their intensity,” Kidd said. “We know they are going to come out aggressive and we have to be aggressive just like them. We can’t back down. We just have to play our style of basketball.

“Cam is going to have to step up, Larry Terry is going to have to step up,” Kidd said. “All of our kids. We have to prove we can shoot the basketball. One thing we have to do is attack their zone and make things happen.”

South Charleston is led by senior  Ot Elmore, who averages 15.1 points per game. His younger brother, sophomore Jon Elmore, averages 13.3 and Trevond Reece averages 9.9 ppg.

Woodrow Wilson will be off until Saturday, Feb. 25, when it hosts Robert C. Byrd at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center at 7:30 p.m. in the regular-season finale.

— E-mail: demorrison@register-herald.com