FAIRLEA — Just three high school girls’ basketball teams across the state of West Virginia remain undefeated. Saturday night, that number will dwindle even further.
Associated Press Class AAAA No. 4 Hurricane (12-0) will visit Class AAA No. 1 Greenbrier East (12-0) in what promises to be one of the top games of the season at Spartan Gym in Fairlea. Game time is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
The Lady Spartans, coached by former West Virginia Governor and current United States Senator Jim Justice, have won every game by double-digits, including victories over defending Class AAA champion No. 3 Nitro (56-37), Class AAA No. 10 Chapmanville (56-42), Class AAA No. 12 Pikeview (68-44, 54-39), Class AAAA No. 11 Woodrow Wilson (77-57), Class AAAA No. 13 Princeton (58-29), Class AA No. 12 Mingo Central (69-36) and Class A No. 11 Huntington St. Joseph (61-49). They’ll be at Shady Spring, which they defeated 77-25 on January 18, this Friday night before Hurricane makes the visit to Greenbrier County.
East is led by junior point guard Kennedy Stewart, who has averaged 18 points per game and dished out a team-best 32 assists through the perfect start. Sophomore guard Ava Workman has averaged 13.4 points per game, to go along with 60 rebounds and 41 steals. Junior center Hannah Fuller has averaged 8.5 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest.
The Redskins, who will host Ripley on Thursday before the trip to Fairlea, haven’t faced as many ranked squads as East, but they do hold quality victories over Parkersburg South (52-45), Oak Hill (67-56), Cabell Midland (52-47), Huntington (45-36) and St. Albans (58-45).
In anticipation of the clash of the undefeated teams, Greenbrier East has announced a “Green Out” and is encouraging all fans to wear green Saturday in support of the Lady Spartans. Fans who show up in their green will receive $1 gate admission. In addition, every student who enters the game can register to be included in a drawing for a 50-inch 4K LED Roku Smart TV. The winner will be chosen during the first timeout of the fourth quarter, and students must be present to win.
Preview by Cam Huffman, Lady Spartans Radio play-by-play announcer.
