WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS- Separated by just about a half hour or so, border rivals Greenbrier East (#6 AAA) and James Monroe (#5 AA) both made their way to the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs on Friday for their opening game in the Battle for the Springhouse tournament held in Colonial Hall.
Both teams battled hard throughout the contest but in the end, it was the Mavericks who walked away 70-67 winners in what was a classic overtime thriller that will not be forgotten anytime soon by either fanbase.
A sellout crowd packed the ballroom arena and was treated with an entertaining contest to say the least.
The Spartans jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead with five points coming from Brody Hamric and a 3-pointer from Nathan Dixon. James Monroe’s Kadyn Hines, a WVU baseball commit, kept the Mavericks within striking distance with a couple good finishing buckets in the paint, but it was the Spartans who kept the consistent momentum early. Dixon closed out the quarter with five points sandwiched around a 3 from the Mavs’ Lane Taylor as Greenbrier East led 21-11 after one.
Darius Burns’ 3 opened the second period and gave the Spartans what looked like a commanding 24-11 lead. Then, midway through the quarter and with East up by 12, James Monroe’s Ryan Mann scored to cut the deficit to 10 at 27-17. The Spartans then scored the next four points rather quickly to go up 31-17, but from that point forward, James Monroe started to chip away.
Wyatt Mann scored then a rebound and stick-back from Ry. Mann cut the lead back to 10. A little later, Hines hit a trifecta and Jayden Miller scored off an assist from Hines, and just like that, the Mavericks were on a 13-0 run and had trimmed the East lead to just one point at 31-30 with 1:46 to go in the first half.
Brodrik Gunter finally stopped the bleeding for Greenbrier East with a left-wing triple and at the end of the first half, the Spartans held a 38-32 lead.
Fast forward to just under a minute to go in the third quarter when Dixon cashed in two freebies at the charity strip to put the Spartans up 53-40 and it looked like Greenbrier East was going to pull away. But Miller hit a 3 to cut the score to 53-43 and that shot seemed to put a little pep in the Mavs step.
To say the fourth quarter belonged to the Mavericks would be the understatement of the month so far. Mann scored the forst four points of the quarter and after two missed Sam Hawver free throws, Hines collected an offensive rebound putback for two that brought James Monroe closer at 53-49. Hines and Burns then traded free throws and following that sequence, Bryce Gardinier hit a huge 3 that sent the Mavs fans to their feet and James Monroe trailed by just one, 55-54. James Monroe then took the lead 56-55 on two more Hines freebies, but Dixon answered on the other end with an old fashioned 3-point play that regained the lead for East at 58-56 and fouled Hines out with just 27 seconds remaining.
Then, with Hines sidelined the rest of the way, the Ryan Mann show began.
The senior drove in and made a contested layup to tied the contest at 58-all with five seconds left and sent the game to overtime.
The Spartans plan in overtime was to get the ball down low to Godfrey which they did on their first two possessions and the junior responded with two buckets. A Ry. Mann 3 put James Monroe ahead 63-62, but Hamric’s clutch bucket gave East the lead right back at 64-63 with 2:23 left. Mann then followed with another basket and after a Spartan turnover, he scored again to give James Monroe a 67-64 lead.
With the score then 67-65, Godfrey scored underneath to tie it again for East, Mann came back down the floor, drove the ball underneath, and while falling to his left, threw up a shot that banked in and got fouled and converted the three-point play.
The Spartans had one more chance but Dixon’s shot from the 3-point range was deflected by Mann and the Mavericks celebrated on their side of the floor.
For East, Dixon and Godfrey led the way in scoring with 15 points apiece. Godfrey also grabbed 10 rebounds. Hamric added 14 and Burns had 11 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. The Spartans turned the ball over 22 times.
Mann had a game-high 24 points and 6 steals for the Mavericks. Hines added 19 points and 9 rebounds and Miller netted 12 points.
East will play in the consolation game on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 PM versus Wyoming East. The Mavericks will play Bridgeport in the championship game at 5:00 PM.
