NEW RICHMOND (WVDN) – In a rare intrastate meeting, Wyoming East defeated Greenbrier West 59-48 on Tuesday night on the Warriors’ home floor. The two school hadn’t faced each other since 2011, and the Cavaliers hadn’t played at Wyoming East since January 2010.
The Class AA #10 Warriors got off to a fast start against the cold-shooting Cavaliers, jumping out to a 9-0 advantage. Dale Boone broke the lid on the rim for Greenbrier West at the 4:06 mark of the opening quarter, knocking down two free throws. From that point, West and East matched each other with 8 points each. The Cavaliers got 6 points from Braydon McClung and the Warriors got 6 as well from junior guard Cole Lambert. East ended the quarter with a 17-10 advantage.
The guard matchup between McClung and Lambert was worth the price of admission, as each scored and guarded the other while on defense. McClung got the better of the duel in the second quarter, scoring 8 points to Lambert’s 4. It was West point guard Kadin Parker, though, that tied the game at 17 with 5:25 to go before halftime with a tough runner in the lane. Then, after a Chris Davis deflection, the Cavalier backcourt combined to give West its first lead. Parker collected Davis’ deflection on the run and dished the ball to McClung on the left wing. McClung drilled the 3 for a 22-21 Cavalier advantage with 3:05 remaining in the first half.
The 3 would be West’s last points of the first half. Sloppy play by both squads marred the final minutes of the half. The Warriors had a blocked shot squirrel out of bounds off their own player, the Cavaliers threw a pass away followed by a Warrior turnover. Michael Kanode missed a layup for Greenbrier West and Lambert returned the favor on a Warrior fast break. Boone was then robbed of an obvious foul call when he split two Warriors defenders and got his right arm hacked on the shot attempt. Wyoming East’s Garrett Mitchell was fouled on the ensuing fast break and knocked down both free throws to put the Warriors back in the lead. Neither team would score the last 1:37 of the half.
Greenbrier West battled back to take a 27-26 lead in the third quarter on two Boone free throws. After a Warrior turnover, the Cavaliers failed to build on their lead after a half-court possession resulted in a missed layup. Mitchell made the Cavaliers pay with a corner 3. The bucket sparked Mitchell and the Warriors, leading to 13 third-quarter points for the 6-foot 3-inch senior. Wyoming East stretched their advantage to 7 points, before the Cavaliers closed it down to end the quarter. Boone launched a t3 that deflected off the front of the rim into Asher Barclay’s hands. Barclay scooped a layup in the air at the buzzer, and the officials signaled the basket was good. Wyoming East held a 41-36 lead heading into the final quarter.
After the Warriors stretched their lead back to seven on two different occasions, West battled back to cut the lead to four twice. Jackson Danielson missed the front end of a one-and-one and Kanode battled to secure the rebound. Parker zipped a cross-court pass to McClung who immediately attacked the lane. Once inside, a quick ball fake cleared the lane for a five-foot jumper to cut the lead to 46-42. Danielson laid in a basket to take the lead back to six, but McClung swooped in from the left and hooked in a layup to cut the lead to four at 48-44. A Warrior timeout was called with the Cavaliers knocking on the door.
Out of the Wyoming East timeout, Mitchell came out of the right corner and launched a 3 over the collapsing Cavalier defenders. The basket was Mitchell’s third 3 of the second half and pushed the Warriors to a seven-point lead. A missed layup and foul on the opposite end put Wyoming East in a bonus situation, but Danielson could not knock down the free throw, keeping the Cavaliers alive. After avoiding a turnover initially, an unfortunate inbound play cost West the possession. The Warriors were unable to convert but the next Cavalier possession was dribbled out of bounds. This time, the Warriors made West pay when defensive switches created a mismatch Wyoming East could exploit. The 6-foot 5-inch Barclay ended up guarding 5-foot 1-inch Lambert, but more importantly for the Warriors, the 6-foot 3-inch Danielson was posted up on 5-foot 8-inch Parker. Danielson used the size advantage to back parker up and shoot a layup over the top.
Wyoming East had matched their largest lead of the night at nine points. Parker cut lead back to seven with a pair of free throws and a defensive stop gave the Cavaliers some hope. Parker then attempted a 12-foot jumper from the right that was short, and Lambert found Danielson cutting down the lane for a layup, boosting the lead back to nine. Danielson victimized West with nine fourth quarter points.
McClung came up short on a three for the Cavaliers, but Wyoming East was called for an illegal screen. Boone drove inside and attempted to pull the trigger on a short-range jumper, but once again officials seemed to miss the foul call. Lambert measured the West defense and sliced down the middle for a one-handed floater that gave the Warriors their largest lead of the game at eleven. Kanode finished up the West scoring with a reverse layup, making the score 57-48 with little time remaining. Lambert finished off the scoring with a pair of free throws.
Greenbrier West falls to 1-1 and will travel to West Virginia State’s Walker Convocation Center Friday evening to face another Class AA top-10 team in Poca. Tip time is approximately 6 p.m. The Dots are the defending Class AA state champions and are coached by 1968 Rainelle High School graduate Allen Osborne. Osborne has guided the Dots to more than 700 wins and three state championships over his career. Wyoming East ups their record to 2-0 and hosts Summers County on Tuesday, Dec. 20. The Warriors come to Charmco on Jan. 24, 2023.
GW: 10 12 14 12 – 48
WE: 17 6 18 18 – 59
Greenbrier West – Braydon McClung 21, Michael Kanode 15, Kadin Parker 4, Dale Boone 4, Asher Barclay 4
Wyoming East – Garrett Mitchell 21, Cole Lambert 19, Jackson Danielson 11, Jacob Howard 6, Tanner Cook 2
3-point goals – GW: 1 (McClung); WE: 4 (Mitchell 4)
