LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – The 2022-23 Greenbrier East Spartans basketball team was about as entertaining to watch as any team in recent memory. The Spartans spent most of the season ranked inside the top 10 and even in the top 5 for several weeks.
The Spartans season ended abruptly when they were upset by the Oak Red Devils in the Region 3, Section 2 first round tournament. It was a sad and disappointing defeat as the Spartans were the no. 1 seed in the section and they had eight seniors on the roster which gave them an experience advantage over almost everyone. However, Oak Hill came ready to play and sent the Spartans and the Spartan faithful home for good.
But the loss does not take away from what the team accomplished according to head coach Jared Patton.
“I do consider it a successful season. We either beat top 10 teams in the state or were in a position to do so. We felt like we could compete with anyone we played through the season,” Patton said.
East averaged 68.3 points per game and nearly 15 assists on those made baskets. They pulled down an average of 19.2 rebounds, although undersized all year, and had 7.2 steals per game.
Goose Gabbert led the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game. Gabbert, who missed a couple games hit 22 3s on the year and converted 106-of-121 shots at the free throw line. Gabbert improved his ability to get to the rim and finish through contact this season.
Adam Seams finished with 10.2 points per game. The Spartan history books do not go back far enough to show career assists in school history, but there is a good chance that Seams would sit atop of those names. Seams, an exciting player in transition and arguably the best pure passer in school history will be tough to replace next season.
Kaiden Huffman got better and better as his career went on and there was not a better season for him than his senior campaign. Huffman scored a career high 24 points back in mid-February against Princeton and it was his scoring and leadership qualities that really stood out this year.
Long range specialist and talented guard Bryson Brammer provided East with important 3-point shooting and an underrated defensive stalwart. Brammer, like Huffman, also steadily improved each year. When there was a time the Spartans needed a key basket or a big shot to fall, Brammer delivered more times than not.
Monquelle Davis and Chris Sinclair also said goodbye to their sports careers at East. Davis was hurt to begin the season, an injury he sustained during football season, but battled back to playing like his old self in the latter part of the year. Davis’ quick footwork and ball-handling prowess, plus his defense, will have head coach Jared Patton searching long and hard for his replacement. Sinclair stood out this season more than he has ever had in the past. Forced to play in the post against bigger players, the 5-foot-10-inch Sinclair used his quickness and athleticism to compete down on the low blocks on both ends of the floor. It will be hard for the Spartans to find someone that competes as hard as Sinclair did in 2023.
Two more seniors are also no longer eligible in Jude Libby and Chris Jacobs. Libby, the team’s tallest player at 6-foot-3 inches, battled in the post, but also could sneak out to the 3-point line and knock down long range shots. Libby was always ready when his name was called and was a great asset to the Spartans’ second unit.
No player received applause on senior night like Jacobs. Jacobs got a big ovation from the stands when introduced and when he scored in the game against Bluefield, the building may have literally registered on the Richter scale. Jacobs was the epitome of what a teammate should be, and his attitude and huge smile will be missed at the Spartan gym.
“It’s going to be tough to replace those eight seniors. Each of them brought something positive to the table each and every game and practice. From their leadership to how hard they competed daily; they will be missed. They were a great group to coach,” Patton exclaimed.
No one knows what the future holds for the program, but with so much production leaving, one cannot help but to think the team may take a step backwards, but Patton is rather confident and excited already about next season.
“Going forward, we had one underclassman, Gabe Patton that played varsity minutes. Gabe will be a senior this upcoming season along with Peyton Dehaven and Hunter Humphreys. I see all three of those guys heavily contributing this next season. We will also have many underclassmen that, ready or not, will have to step up to varsity and contribute. They are a fun group to coach, and I believe they will be ready. I have a feeling we are going to surprise a lot of people,” Patton stated.
Patton also believes this past year was a success and for many reasons such as the schedule, the good wins and the excitement the team brough each day.
“We played the third toughest schedule in the state and arguably the hardest schedule GEHS boys’ basketball has ever played. When the season ended last year, I asked the eight seniors what type of schedule they wanted for their senior season, and they all said the hardest I could make it. I believe playing such a tough schedule only gets the team ready to play in the lost season. When looking at this season’s losses, we were in every single game, but just needed to hit a few more shots and rebound a little better and that was against three state runners up from the previous season that included Parkersburg South, Shady Spring and Radford,” Patton explained.
The players learned what it takes to be a state championship caliber team and that’s what we strived for daily. The loss in the sectional game was a tough one to deal with. We didn’t shoot the ball well and we didn’t rebound like we should have. Oak hill played the best game they played the entire season hitting 10 3s. All in all, I was extremely proud of each player on our roster for this season and am excited about next season and what we can accomplish,” he concluded.
