Girls Basketball: Greenbrier West makes history with dramatic sectional comeback win over Webster County

Gallery by Steph Redden

Charmco – Friday night the Greenbrier West girls basketball team needed a quick lesson on the how to cut down the sectional championship nets.

In all fairness to the Lady Cavaliers, not a single player on the team had been born the last time Greenbrier West captured a sectional title back in 2002.

The postseason frustration changed dramatically when Maddie Fields drilled a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go in the game.

Fields’ game-winner capped an 11-point fourth quarter comeback which gave the Cavaliers a wild 47-46 win over Webster County in the Class A Region 3, Section 2 championship game.

Game winner tonight from Maddie Fields to give @GwhsCavaliers a wild 47-46 win….. #wvgirlsbb https://t.co/YCaXKV5wBM

— Rusty Udy (@rusman1981) February 25, 2023

“I am so proud of these girls for the team effort they put in tonight and the hard work that they have put in,” an emotional Greenbrier West head coach Mark Agee said. “They have come together as a team and worked hard. They have bonded very well and the chemistry has been great.”

No doubt, the chemistry and close bond for Greenbrier West was fully tested Friday.

Leading 15-8 after one quarter, the Cavaliers went scoreless in the second quarter, while the Highlanders put 11 points up to take a 19-15 lead at the break.

However, while the score was in its favor, Webster County watched a golden opportunity slip away to build a much bigger lead at the break.

Missed foul shots and several missed looks at the rim eventually came back to haunt the Highlanders who made just 12 of 26 charity attempts in the game.

“We shoot 50 foul shots a day that the girls have to make. Then the little baskets are usually automatic and we missed at least 15 shots inside and that is not our usual thing,” Webster County assistant head coach Ryan Baird said. “None of these girls besides (all-stater) Sydney (Baird) has really played in a sectional final.”

The Webster lead went to nine points after three quarters with the Cavaliers struggling to get the ball inside and the 3-point shots still not falling consistently.

“We came out scoring great and our defense was working. Our shots started getting cold and they started getting on the inside of us,” Agee said. “We weren’t rotating like we were supposed to and they got up on us a little bit. What I admire is the girls did not give up. We made some adjustments and went back into a 2-3 (zone) which seemed to cool (Webster) off and then our shots started falling. We also pressured the ball better.”

A baseline drive from Baird gave Webster County its biggest lead of the night at 11 points with 6:19 to play in the contest.

When Greenbrier West finally started to find success inside, the game turned on a dime.

A baseline drive from Fields jump-started a 9-0 run that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

Preslee Treadway made three fouls shots and scored on a layup after a steal from Fields. When Brilee Redden knocked down her two free-throws, the Cavaliers were within two points with 3:17 to play.

“We settled a little bit from the 3-point line, but we were able to work out of it. I just tried to talk them up. They are a really good group of kids. They kept telling each other that we are not losing this game,” Agee said. “Attacking the basket did change the game. Preslee was cold starting out, but she started taking it inside and Maddie really helped us out with the drives.”

During the crucial run of the game, youth reared its head at a bad time for the visitors.

“There in the third quarter we had two or three times that Syd had the layup or she dumped it in. I told them we were going to stay with that, then all of a sudden they come out and start throwing the ball around. That is just the (postseason) pressure,” Baird said. “We practiced all week against their pressure, then we panicked and the wrong girl takes the ball out. It is just youth. I thought our kids played hard defensively and it was the best I have seen them play.”

Baird snapped the run with a a bucket, but back-to-back scoring drives from senior Ava Barclay tied the game with 1:44 to play.

“I was a little down, but we did that last time and came back from 12 or 14 points down in the third quarter. I knew we could pull it out if we tried hard,” Barclay said. “The only thought going through my head was drive it to the hole and just make it. That was really the only option that I had. It was a good thing that I did.”

Two free throws from Baird was answered by another drive from Fields, who is more know for her prowess from deep.

“When we got down I was just thinking that we couldn’t give up and we had to keep working as a team to pull ourselves back up,” Fields said. “I am not a very good ball-handler, so every time I go to the basket it is kinda like, I might make it and I might not make it. It just depends.”

A jumper from Baird moved the Highlanders back in front before Treadway hit a tough jumper with a defender all over her for a 44-44 tie with 37 seconds to play.

Two more free throws from Baird set the stage for the dramatic game winner by Fields.

“I knew I wasn’t open, so I looked around and saw Maddie was open,” Barclay said. “I was praying she would make it. I had confidence she would and she did. It was great.”

After hurting Webster with drives to the basket, Fields capped a 19-point performance with her fourth triple of the night when the Cavs needed it the most.

“I felt like I had the opportunity to make the 3, so I took it. I knew it was going in once I let it go,” Fields said, grinning.

Webster had a couple of chances to tie or take the lead in the last 14 seconds, but a late runner went wanting and two missed free throws sealed the win for the home team.

Having taken a beating on the boards all night as a team, Greenbrier West senior Meagan Poticher was not about to let the second missed free throw get away from her at the end of the game.

“This is great. I am over the moon right now,” Poticher said. “They had been beating us on the glass all night. Coach told us before we went out there that if she misses her foul shots, you grab that ball and you don’t let go of it until somebody fouls you. That is what I did.”

Barclay finished with 10 points and Treadway had nine. Baird led all scorers with 27 points.

“It was a good, physical basketball game. We knew exactly what they were going to do and we were prepared for it,” Baird said. “There at the end we had three freshman in and two juniors. Sometimes they lose what they are doing.”

Both teams still advance to the regional round next Thursday. Greenbrier West will host River View, while Webster County will travel to James Monroe.

“We have beat River View twice, but that means nothing. The last game we played, we only beat them by two at the very end,” Barclay said. “They won’t be a pushover and we will have to practice hard for the next week to prepare for them.”