Greenbrier East Girls
Greenbrier East Girls
Nearly everyone back for Spartans
By Gary Fauber the register-herald
Greenbrier East put together a 20-win season last winter that resulted in the team ’ s first trip to the state tournament since 2020 .
Losing only two seniors from that squad , the Spartans have their sights set on another big year .
It took the Spartans a few weeks to gain their footing . They won their first three games before dropping three straight . But that ’ s when they caught fire and wound up winning 18 of 19 games , the run culminating in a 53-30 win over Riverside in a Class AAAA Region 3 co-final .
It was a 75-52 win over eventual two-time Class AA state champion Wyoming East in the Spartans ’ holiday tournament in December that longtime coach Jim Justice — the outgoing West Virginia Governor and U . S . Senator-elect — said was pivotal .
“ The two games prior to Wyoming East were the turning point ,” Justice said after the Riverside win . “ We were 3-3 , we come back , and we win and win and we ’ re 5-3 and playing Wyoming East . We had a really nice game plan on what to do with Wyoming East and we really messed them up . You ’ ll never do that with Wyoming East again , but we really messed them up on the game plan on what to do . At the end of the day , when I can see that they are capable of doing that , the sky is the limit .”
Nearly every player from that team is back .
Junior sharpshooter Kennedy Stewart leads
Jenny Harnish / The Register-Herald
Greenbrier East ’ s Ava Workman drives to the basket while Riverside ’ s Riley Starsick defends during their Class AAAA Region 3 co-final in Fairlea .
the way . She averaged 17 points per game , with 86 three-pointers . She was a nearly 40 percent shooter from the field , 33.7 percent from 3-point range ( 86 of 255 ), and
87.9 from the free throw line ( 51 of 58 ). She also averaged 5.3 rebounds per game , along with 71 assists and 63 steals .
Ava Workman averaged 12.6 points and 3.6 rebounds and led the team in steals with 88 .
Jada Waller averaged nine points and four rebounds per game , Mackenna McClure averaged 8.3 points and seven rebounds and Hannah Fuller , who had a big game in the Spartans ’ regional championship victory , averaged 7.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per game .
In addition to the returning players , senior Alexis Stack has joined the team . She was a Class AAA first-team allstater for the Spartans volleyball team this fall .
The Spartans ’ season ended in the state tournament with a 47- 31 first-round loss to Morgantown . Normally a top shooting team , the Spartans were done in by a 9-of-38 ( 23.7 percent ) showing from the floor , including just 2 of 13 ( 15.4 percent ) from 3-point range .
Despite that , Justice expects to see another big performance .
“ Well , let me tell you something . They ’ re the real deal . You didn ’ t really see ‘ em get unleashed and really light it up and everything ,” Justice said after the loss to Morgantown . “ This team ’ s made 14- 15 3s many , many , many games this year , against very viable opponents , so they ’ re the real deal . You ’ re gonna have to contend with them for years now to come , so for the next couple years , they ’ re just going to get stronger and better and not get pushed around and they ’ re going to be something to contend with .”
Email : gfauber @ register-herald . com
WV SOUTH BASKETBALL • 9