CLARKSBURG, W.Va. — It’s been more than two months since Robert C. Byrd’s boys basketball team last lost a game.
Back on Dec. 14, the Flying Eagles fell to 0-2 after being nipped by Shady Spring, 71-69.
All RCB has done since is win 18 straight games to establish itself as a Class AA contender and one of the state’s premier teams.
Regular season games remain at Elkins and against Grafton and the Eagles will look to run their win streak to 20 before the start of postseason play.
“We’re just going to keep working. We don’t have to be playing our best basketball right now, but we have to find it between now and some time next week,” RCB head coach Bill Bennett said. “That’s what you gear up for. Obviously, you don’t want to peak too early.”
As is usually the case for Bennett’s better teams through the years at Byrd, success starts on the defensive end.
After allowing 72 points in a season-opening loss to Wheeling Central and 71 the following night against the Tigers, RCB has not allowed more than 62 points in a game and is giving up 40.8 points on average during the 18-game win streak.
“They’re very good defensively,” said Lincoln head coach Jordan Toth, whose Cougars scored 54 total points in two regular season losses to the Eagles.
Primarily a man-to-man team that thrives on ball pressure and getting into the passing lanes, the Eagles often rely on defense to lead to offense.
Because of RCB’s speed and athleticism, opposing teams often look to slow the Eagles down by utilizing a zone defense.
Oddly enough, Bennett believes his team’s defense can lead to the opposition being forced to change its plan of how to guard the Eagles.
“We like to play against man, because that’s what we spend a ton of time working on,” Bennett said. “Sometimes you have to get to that point by playing good man defense, getting a lead and forcing someone else to come out and play you.”
That method has often worked for RCB, which has three players averaging well into double-figure scoring.
Junior Bryson Lucas, the team’s tallest player at 6-foot-5, leads the Eagles with 14.2 points per game. Junior point guard Gavin Kennedy and the team’s only senior, swingman Khori Miles, are both at 13.1 points.
Three other RCB players average more than five points, while Lucas also serves as the team’s leader in rebounds (8.3), assists (3.1), steals (2.7) and blocks (1.4).
“The scorebook shows the way we play,” Bennett said. “We have three guys averaging 13 or 14 and a few others pretty close to 10.”
The Eagles are the No. 1 seed in Class AA Region II, Section 1 and will start postseason play next Tuesday against the winner of Saturday’s matchup between Liberty Harrison-Elkins. Should RCB advance, a third matchup against Bridgeport or Lincoln would await in the sectional title game.
“I’m proud of these guys, because a lot of teams I’ve coached over the years didn’t have the ability to play the way we’ve had to play some games and still win,” Bennett said. “But you do that by playing defense and by playing smart and we hope it continues.”