WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS (WVDN) – This weekend, Feb. 3 and 4, will be the second annual Battle for the Springhouse basketball tournament at The Greenbrier resort in White Sulphur Springs.
Last year, the tournament was a huge success and provided a chance for the players and fans to experience basketball in Colonial Hall, the largest ballroom in the building, for the first time ever.
Aside from the actual tourney, to make sure the games are able to be played is a behind-the-scenes crew that works long hours laying the floor down and getting the basketball scene ready.
Last year the Daily News spoke with The Greenbrier’s engineering supervisor Dewey Taylor who took some time out of his busy day to speak again about the process of turning Colonial Hall into a legitimate basketball facility.
“The floor is 115 feet by 75 feet, and it’s made of kiln-dried beechwood. It’s made by Junckers Flooring company in Denmark,” Taylor said.
Last year, Taylor and his crew spent approximately 26 hours laying the floor. This week, that time was down to just seven hours. With such a drastic difference, Taylor explained how the experience of 2022 and some helpful equipment from Ohio made their job a lot easier.
“Other than having hands-on experience with the floor this year, I believe what behooved us the most is the flooring being stored on custom-made carts by Hickory Lane Welding company (based in Ohio). Having the flooring on wheels really sped up the process,” Taylor explained.
That the crew is not made up of a lot of members, so getting the job done quickly is a testament to the hard work they do in an extremely efficient way.
“I used two teams of four people laying floor, plus myself filling in when needed,” Taylor said.
As for when the tournament is over and it is time to clean up, it is the easier of the two jobs, but that does not mean seeing the finished product for two days in action is not easy on the eyes.
“Taking it up is faster and easier, but I really enjoy seeing the floor when it’s finished, so that helps with motivation,” Taylor concluded.
The full tournament schedule is as follows:
Friday, Feb 3:
2 p.m.: Nitro vs. Wyoming East (girls)
4 p.m.: Cabell Midland vs. Shady Spring (boys)
6 p.m.: Greenbrier East vs. Parkersburg South (boys)
8 p.m.: Greenbrier East vs. Mingo Central (girls)
Saturday, Feb. 4:
1 p.m.: Girls’ consolation game
3 p.m.: Boys’ consolation game
5 p.m.: Boys’ championship game
7 p.m.: Girls’ championship game
Tickets can be purchased on The Greenbrier’s main website.
