BECKLEY – Greenbrier West basketball found itself on top of the Class A standings after five games, racing out to a 5-0 start for the first time since the 2021-22 season. Exactly one month after they played their first game, the Cavaliers find themselves 5-5 and hungry to get back in the win column. Playing for a second consecutive day at the New River Community and Technical College Invitational at the Beckley-Raleigh County Convention Center (let’s just say New River CTC at the Armory), West dropped another decision to a team that almost certainly will be a contender when regional play begins.
One thing the Cavalier basketball team has been lacking in their recent slide is a fast start. That was not the case Friday evening as the Cavaliers jumped out to a 13-6 lead. The guard tandem of Kamden Sams and Shane Plogger each scored four points to pace West at the outset. Jesse Walkup’s corner three at the 2:58 mark of the first quarter gave the Cavaliers their seven-point advantage. From there, the rims would be unkind. The Tide trimmed West’s lead to 13-11 by the end of the quarter.
Sherman’s 9-0 run would give them a 15-13 with 5:41remaining in the first half. Isaac Crane’s layup with 4:33 left in the second quarter broke a 6:25 scoring drought for West and tied the game at 15 each. Sherman answered with a Luke Tagliente layup down the lane, but Plogger outraced the Tide defenders to tie things at 17 each with a layup of his own. One minute later, Tagliente again scored on a layup while West’s shooters remained cold. Sherman extended its lead to 23-17 before Plogger sank a one-handed floater, ending another scoring drought that lasted 2:21. The two teams would trade baskets, with Carter Vandall getting a stick back of a missed Sams’ three-pointer to make it 25-21 with 40 seconds left in the half. The score would remain that going into the break.
Although the game had been relatively even, West shot only 35% from the floor compared to 45% by Sherman. Plogger led the Cavaliers with eight points while Vandall and senior Logan Berry had helped control the boards with four rebounds each. Tagliente set the pace for Sherman with 10 points. The momentum swings were crazy to think about, with West leading by seven at one point and Sherman battling back to lead by as much as six.
Sherman extended its lead as the second half started, going on a 7-2 run capped by a pair of Chase Mills free throws. Down nine, West started to make a run. Sams got a straight-away three ball to roll around the rim twice and drop through the hoop on a designed inbound out of a timeout. Tagliente pushed the lead back to eight with a left-hander in the lane, but the Cavaliers answered immediately on a slick, no-look, over-the-head, hook-style assist from Sams to Colton Dunbar.
Both teams would cool off for the next 2:18 before Trey Lester knocked down one of two free throws and a 35-28 edge with 1:48 to go in the third. Vandall stepped up seconds later to sink a three-point from the right wing and cut Sherman’s lead to four. Chase Mills added a layup at the rim followed up by a Ryan Mollohan free throw to take Sherman’s lead back to seven. Freshman Elijah McDaniel scored his first career varsity point with the front end of a pair of free throws, and the quarter ended with the Tide leading by six at 38-32.
The fourth quarter started off promising for the Cavaliers when Plogger rebounded a missed Sams three, scored a tough putback and was fouled putting him at the foul line. Plogger’s free throw was short, though, and the Tide quickly answered with a Logan Buzzard stick back. In the blink of an eye, Sherman extended the lead to nine points when Lester stole an errant pass and beat the cavaliers back to the bucket. Sherman’s lead grew to ten before Vandall sank a runner in the lane with 5:56 to go in the game.
With 3:38 remaining, things went south for West. Mollohan hit a layup to grow Sherman’s advantage to twelve points. Mills grabbed a bobbled ball by Crane and raced virtually uncontested for another layup to increase the lead to 14 points. Mollohan forced another West turnover out of a timeout, and Buzzard swooped in to give the Tide its largest lead of the evening at 16.
Both coaches emptied their benches with a little over a minute remaining. Logan Berry added a nice, up and under layup to cap the Cavalier scoring. Sherman improved to 7-1 with a 52-38 win and West was left looking for answers. Despite the final score, Greenbrier West battled for a third straight game only to come away without a win.
Plogger led the Cavaliers with 10 points and pulled down five rebounds. Carter Vandall added nine points and seven rebounds. Sams tallied seven points, Dunbar four, Walkup three, Crane two, Berry two, and McDaniel one. West shot only 17-46 from the field for 37% and went 3-15 from three for 20%.
Sherman’s Chase Mills scored 16, Tagliente had 14, and Lester added 10. Buzzard scored five points, Mollohan 3, Brayden Hamrick two, and Elijah Jeffrey two.
West attempted only three free throws in the game, hitting one. Sherman, on the other hand, attempted 16 foul shots and hit on 11. The discrepancy in fouls between the teams in a physical contest did not go unnoticed.
Greenbrier West returns to action Wednesday night in Charmco when they host the Richwood Lumberjacks at 7:30. Sherman travels to Van on Thursday, January 15. The Cavaliers and Tide could meet each other again when regional play begins at the end of the season.
