Twice this season Greenbrier East has dropped last second losses to teams from Raleigh County.
Monday night against Shady Spring, it happened for a third time.
Four free-throws by Cole Chapman in the final minute turned a two-point deficit into a 66-64 win for the Class AAA defending state champions.
“I feel like we escaped and got out of here with a win,” Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson said. “We played bad enough to lose the game and played good enough to win the game. That is why it was a two-point game, but I am happy that we won.”
Although his team felt the sting of another tough loss, Greenbrier East head coach Jared Patton saw plenty of positives.
“We are getting there. We are still a young team, but we are learning every single game,” Patton said. “We loved the hostile environment down here. Coach Olson always has his team ready and we knew it was going to be a dogfight. We loved every minute of it.”
For those in attendance that felt the Tigers would easily dispatch the Spartans, it was clear early on that wouldn’t be the case.
“Greenbrier East, they did a heckuva job coming at us. They weren’t scared and they weren’t going to be denied tonight,” Olson said. “They really took it to us and for awhile we decided we weren’t going to defend.”
Trailing by four points after one quarter and by six with just over six minutes left in the opening half, the visitors starting drilling 3-pointers from all over the floor.
When the halftime horn sounded, the Spartans had knocked down seven long balls to build a 41-31 advantage.
“We went over it on the board before we came out tonight. I told them to shoot like they can,” Patton said. “We shoot so much in practice every day that it’s just a matter of time before we start believing we can make the shots.”
Olson credited Greenbrier East for taking advantage of some uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns by his team.
“The way we defend, we are one unit. We had a couple of guys floating on defense trying to get a steal or jumping the passing lane,” Olson explained. “Greenbrier East did a good job of kicking the ball in the corner. That is not like us normally.”
Although his team was down 10, there was still no panic in Olson to start the second half. Shady came out with renewed effort and allowed East to score just one field goal in the the third period.
“At halftime, I didn’t feel like 10 points was anything for us and I was never concerned. It’s hard for a team to put us away for four quarters. Outscoring them 20-6 in the third quarter was pretty impressive.”
With four minutes to play, the Tigers seemed in control up seven points, but East regrouped and came storming back.
“Being the state champs last year, we knew they weren’t going to roll over and not come out with some fire and fight. Our offense got a little stagnate and settle for a few things. We took a couple of odd shots instead of running our stuff,” Patton said. “After they made the run, we settled back in and started running our stuff like we were supposed to again.”
Two free throws from Kaiden Huffman and a triple from Goose Gabbert closed the gap to two points.
The next Shady Spring series was a big one.
A bang-bang play at the basket resulted in East losing Adam Seams on his fifth foul and Cole Chapman converting a crucial layup.
“I told them in the time out that I needed someone to step up and take a charge. We knew exactly what they were going to do. I had four players say that our player stepped up and took a charge and we get hit with a block. That is tough,” Patton said.
Down four points, Gabbert attacked the basket and was fouled on the block by Braden Chapman for his fifth foul of the game.
Gabbert made both free-throws before Monquelle Davis scored on a run out to tie the game following a miss by the Tigers.
After another Shady misfire, Gabbert gave East a 64-62 lead with a nice up and under score.
With Braden Chapman out of the game, the Tigers turned to Cole Chapman who attacked the basket and was fouled with 1:03 to play.
Chapman’s two free throws tied the game and when East could not convert on the their next series, Olson wanted to hold for the final shot.
“You feel so at ease when Cole is on the floor. I knew worst case scenario was we were going to overtime,” Olson said. “Cole is not going to turn it over and he is going to make the right decision. When he went to the free throw line, it was no doubt in my mind those shots were going in.”
Chapman’s go-ahead free throws came with 9.2 seconds to play, giving East one last chance to tie or win it on a 3-pointer.
Shady appeared to have the game won with a defensive stop, but East was granted a timeout with one second left on the clock.
The ensuing attempt by East was blocked by Ammar Maxwell to preserve the win.
“Getting in the paint and drawing those fouls alone was huge because Braden went out. We aren’t used to playing without Braden. It changed everything. Cole took the game upon himself,” Olson said. “Then to win it on defense, that is who we are. That last defensive sequence, we did a great job of communicating and switching.”
Cole Chapman finished the night with a game-high 22 points and was 11-for-12 from the foul line in the win.
“That is three games against Raleigh County teams where it has come down to the last play of the game and the officials have controlled the outcome of the game,” Patton said. “I preach to the kids all the time that we can’t leave it in the officials hands. Not that they did a bad job, but we need to win outright where it doesn’t matter about the last call.”
Jaedan Holstein and Maxwell added 14 points apiece and Braden Chapman had 10.
Seams led the Spartans with 13 points, while Gabbert added 11. Huffman and Aaron Griffith had 10 points each for East.
GE: 14 27 6 17 – 64
SS: 18 13 20 15 – 66
Greenbrier East
Zach Patton 2, Adam Seams 13, Monquelle Davis 9, Goose Gabbert 11, Aaron Griffith 10, Kaiden Huffman 10, Jude Libby 6, Bryson Brammer 3. Totals: 20 15-22 64.
Shady Spring
Braden Chapman 10, Cole Chapman 22, Jaedan Holstein 14, Cameron Manns 6, Ammar Maxwell 14. Totals: 23 13-17 66.
3-pointers – GE: 9 (Seams, Davis, Gabbert, Griffith, Huffman 2, Libby 2, Brammer); SS: 7 (B. Chapman, C. Chapman, Manns 2, Maxwell 3).