South Charleston forward Hunter Moles, right, battles for a loose ball with Beckley's Andrew Johnson during the Black Eagles' win Tuesday night at the South Charleston Community Center. South Charleston's Rashaud Kincaide and Beckley's Steve Lewis look on.

 By Nick Rockman Daily Mail Sports

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Jon Elmore, along with South Charleston, proved the Black Eagles boys basketball team is the squad to beat in the Mountain State Athletic Conference, not Class AAA No. 1 Beckley.

Elmore poured in a game-high 30 points as No. 6 South Charleston won in impressive fashion, 61-45, at the South Charleston Community Center on Tuesday night.

"I think we proved a lot tonight coming out here and beating them like that," Elmore said. "We can play with the best of them."

Coaches, players and fans considered Tuesday's game a preview for the MSAC Championship.

Beckley entered the contest with an unblemished record and leading the MSAC East Division. South Charleston sat atop the West Division.

The Flying Eagles have not won at South Charleston since 1996.

Despite the Flying Eagles (8-1) namesake, it was the Black Eagles (9-1) who soared. South Charleston built momentum early and never trailed en route to the double-digit margin victory.

Beckley's hopes fell in step with the team's 3-point shooting - off the mark. The Flying Eagles finished 3-of-22 from 3-point range.

South Charleston Coach Vic Herbert credited those numbers to a stingy defense.

"We were just very active in it and we covered them up for the most part most of the time," he said.

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