CHARMCO – Greenbrier West cruised to their second consecutive sectional championship with a 46-31 win over Meadow Bridge Friday night in Charmco. The win was special for the Cavaliers’ only senior member, point guard Hannah Sweet. Sweet ignited the West offense with two first quarter three-pointers and helped Greenbrier West build a 13-3 first quarter advantage over their Fayette County rivals.
The two teams had met earlier in the season with the Cavaliers coming out on top in largely lopsided wins. The Wildcats surged into Charmco after a second half flurry gave them a 48-42 win over Webster County on Tuesday night. Unbeknownst to the Meadow Bridge faithful, their team would be battling a team without its scoring leader. A day after Greenbrier West disposed of Richwood, Preslee Treadway would tweak her ankle in practice. Not wanting to risk any further damage, Cavalier head coach Mark Agee decided to sit his junior forward and rely on depth he’d been building all season long. Agee’s gamble paid off.
Junior forward Lacey Walker helped build West’s first quarter lead with a three-pointer of her own. West also used a stifling half-court defense to befuddle the Wildcat attack and create multiple turnovers. The Wildcats didn’t get in the scoring column until 3:22 remained in the opening quarter when Charity Reichard knocked down the front end of a two-shot foul. Meadow Bridge would go scoreless from the field, however, and got their only other points on a pair of free throws from junior Kierston Rozell. Greenbrier West got four points from sophomore guard Brilee Redden and led by ten after one quarter.
The second quarter was almost as unforgiving as the first for Meadow Bridge. Redden added four more points on transition buckets while Walker knocked down another three-pointer. Maddie Fields added her only score of the night to give the homestanding Cavaliers nine points in the quarter. Meadow Bridge’s only field goal of the first half came on a Seirra Simmons three-pointer with 5:03 left. Rozell added a free throw, giving her three points at the break. West’s lead was 22-7 at halftime.
The third quarter was largely the Sam Holliday show. The 5’1” sophomore delighted the crowd with seven points in the frame, including a three-pointer that caused an eruption from the student section. Redden remained hot with five more points in the quarter and sophomore Kenna Fields chipped in with three.
Meadow Bridge, 1-15 in the first half from the three-point line, kept firing up the threes. Finding a little better success, the Wildcats hit on 3 of 9 attempts. Lily Hayes came off the bench to knock down two set-shot style threes, and Rozell added six points on the Wildcats first two –pointer, a three, and 1-3 free throw shooting. Greenbrier West held a comfortable 37-19 cushion after three quarters.
Wildcat head coach Steve Taylor kept his charges feisty and fighting in the fourth quarter. Meadow Bridge fired up eight more three-pointers in the final frame, getting two makes from Rozell and a lone trey from Hayes. Despite eight points from Rozell, Greenbrier West held on to their lead when Sweet zeroed in on a pair of three pointers to help seal the win. Holliday did her part by battling inside with the much taller Rozell, pulling down five rebounds and scoring three more on her way to setting career highs for points with 10 and rebounds with eight.
Redden led the Cavaliers with 13 points followed by Sweet with 12, Holliday’s 10, and Walker’s six. Kenna Fields finished with three points and Maddie Fields two.
Rozell led all scorers with 17 points. Hayes tallied nine points on 3 for 9 shooting from the three-point line. Simmons had three points and Reichard added two.
Sweet’s 12-point output was a career high and earned her M & M Barbeque Player of the Game honors from the Radio Greenbrier announcing team.
Both teams advance to the regional co-final round with Greenbrier West hosting Region 3 Section 1 runner-up River View on Tuesday, February 27 at 7 PM. The Cavaliers last met the Raiders on November 29 in Charmco, an 80-49 victory that saw Treadway establish a Greenbrier West single-game scoring record and career-high of 39 points. Meadow Bridge heads to Lindside to face Section 1 champion James Monroe, also on Tuesday at 7. Winners on Tuesday advance to the WVSSAC State Tournament on Tuesday, March 5.
