Great sporting events at The Greenbrier have become commonplace in recent years.
This weekend, America’s Resort is again the place to be when the second annual Battle for the Springhouse tips off inside Colonial Hall.
The Battle for the Springhouse will showcase eight teams in all with six of the participants ranked in the top-5 of their respective classes.
The four girls teams include Wyoming East, Mingo Central, Nitro and Greenbrier East. Shady Spring, Parkersburg South, Cabell Midland and Greenbrier East make up the boys tournament.
The No. 1 ranked Warriors and the No. 2 ranked Miners are separated by just one point at the top of Class AA and have split their two regular season games.
Nitro enters the tournament as the No. 5 ranked team in Class AAA and will be looking to snap a two-game skid after losses to Ripley and at Logan.
Senior Taylor Maddox leads the Wildcats (9-7) scoring 11 points per game, while sophomore Ava Edwards averages 10 points. Junior Hailey Newsom controls the paint grabbing nearly nine rebounds and scoring eight points per contest.
Nitro battles Wyoming East in Friday’s opening game at 2 p.m..
The Warriors are led by a dynamic guard tandem in sophomore Cadee Blackburn and junior Maddie Clark who combine to average 27 points per game. Senior Kayley Bane is another threat for East scoring just under 10 points.
The other girls matchup Friday will feature Mingo Central playing AAAA Greenbrier East at 8 p.m.
Sophomore sensation Addie Smith is the spark plug for the Miners (15-1) averaging 22 points per game. Smith hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to beat Wyoming East on Miner Mountain back in early January.
The Miners also boast two other solid scoring threats in junior Jenna Sparks (11.3) and senior Madisyn Curry (8.1).
The Spartans will bring some gunslingers to the shootout as well led by one of the best scorers in the state, Cadence Stewart.
Stewart, along with younger sister Kennedy Stewart, who is just a freshman, gives East a deadly combo from behind the arc.
Sophomores Ryan White and Caroline Dotson can also score in double figures on any given night.
Class AAA No. 1 Shady Spring (12-3) will open the boys portion of the tournament when it battles AAAA Cabell Midland at 4 p.m.
The Tigers have just one loss to team from West Virginia and that came in the season opener at Morgantown, The Mohigans are the top ranked team in Class AAAA.
Shady Spring enters the Battle for the Springhouse on a nine-game winning streak which includes 20-plus point wins over Logan, Fairmont Senior and Bluefield in its last three outings.
Seniors Braden Chapman, Cole Chapman, Cam Manns and Jaedan Holstein, along with junior sensation Ammar Maxwell are all double-digits threats for the Tigers.
The Knights (7-6) won their most recent game against Spring Valley, but have dropped three of their last four games. Senior Dominic Schmidt can fill it up from behind arc for Midland.
The second game of the boys tournament starts at 6 p.m. and is a AAAA showdown between No. 2 Parkersburg South and No. 5 Greenbrier East.
South (10-3) was last year’s state runner-up and has also only lost once to an in-state team, which happens to be Morgantown.
Head coach Mike Fallon’s group plays hard, fast and aggressive. The Patriots average nearly 11 steals per game and have five players averaging double-figures.
Aiden Blake (14.1) leads the Patriots, followed by Cyrus Traugh (13.3), Nathan Plotner (12.8, Jackson Smith (12.5) and Austin Reeves (10.0).
Although the Spartans (9-3) are ranked No. 5, they have been largely under the radar around the state.
A win over South would definitely open some eyes.
A senior-heavy team, Greenbrier East has been calm under pressure with wins over Huntington, South Charleston, Beckley and Princeton.
Adam Seams is coming off a Class AAA state soccer championship run and he is the floor general, while Goose Gabbert frustrates defenses with his ability to get to the rim and shoot the long ball.
Fellow seniors Kaiden Huffman, Jude Libby and Bryson Brammer have also played steady for East in big moments this season.
Saturday’s action will feature the girls consolation game at 1 p.m. and the boy’s at 3 p.m. The boys championship game will tip at 5 p.m. and the girls championship tilt starts at 7 p.m.
