CHARLESTON- The 5-seed Greenbrier East Lady Spartans (21-4) are back in Charleston after taking a few years off, and with the season East has put together, the state tournament is right where they belong.
East defeated Woodrow Wilson, Princeton, and Riverside to punch their ticket to the capital city and the feeling among the team is they are not satisfied with just making it. They want to win the whole thing.
The first hurdle the Spartans will have to get through is the 4th-seeded Morgantown Lady Mohigans (16-8).
Morgantown is the defending state champs, so the experience is there on their side. The Mohigans started the season 9-0, but not long after that, Lily Jordan, their 6-foot-forward who is committed to play college basketball at Indiana, Pa, suffered an injury and has missed the last four weeks of the season. Jordan’s unfortunate luck left Morgantown scrambling to find the right rotations and minutes for the other players on the team. They hit a 3-7 stretch over their next 10 games and to go even deeper, in the month of February, Morgantown went 4-4.
Their top player right now is Sadaya Jones, a 5-foot-9 junior who can score from all levels on the court. Jones scored 33 of her team’s 59 points in their regional title victory over cross-town rival University last week. And like the Spartans, the Mohigans start a freshman point guard in Kayli Kellogg.
Morgantown averages 58.4 points per game and allows opponents to score just 45.8 per contest.
The Spartans on the other hand, are rolling into the tournament having won 18 of their last 19 games. Kennedy Stewart, Ava Workman, Mackenna McClure, Hannah Fuller, and Jada Waller are one of the more formidable starting lineups in the region and not one of them is a senior which makes them young and exciting, although low on experience.
East averages 63.3 points per night and it was Stewart that led the Spartans in scoring during the regular season with 16.5 points per game but has elevated her play even more in the past three postseason games and is scoring at a 22.6 clip. Workman averaged 13.3 points and just under four steals per contest. She was injured in the regional final against Riverside but hopes to be on the floor this Tuesday.
Fuller is an X-factor for East. She stands around 6-foot-2 inches and is coming off a dominant 16 point, 14-rebound effort in the regional game. For the regular season, Fuller scored 7.9 points and grabbed 6.3 rebounds.
Sandy Banton, Josie Banton, Kala Waller, and Liz Wooding will have the opportunity to have big impacts whereas in tournament games, depth can be one of the most important ingredients to a team. Sa. Banton leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage at 42.3 and is as scrappy as a player you will find on the court this week.
There is just one common opponent between the Spartans and Mohigans. Both played the 1-seed in the tournament, George Washington, and both lost. East went down 66-46 way back in December, and Morgantown lost to them 63-50 about three weeks ago.
This should be a good one. The young Spartans are out to prove they not only belong, but also should be considered a favorite. The Mohigans are looking for a fresh start after kind of limping to the season finish line before a dominant win over University catapulted them to Charleston and gave them their confidence back.
Tipoff in this game is scheduled for 11:15 AM this Tuesday, March 5 at the Charleston Coliseum.
