Fairlea – In a battle of youth and experience, the experienced bunch won out.
Greenbrier East senior group jumped out to an 8-2 lead Tuesday and never trailed as it picked up a 66-53 win over rival Beckley, sweeping the season series in Fairlea.
Goose Gabbert, who nailed the game-winning shot when the two teams met in Beckley in December, again proved troublesome for the Flying Eagles with a game-high 23 points. He struck early and often, scoring the first five points for his team.
“He’s really putting it together this year and that comes from all the offseason workouts,” East head coach Jared Patton said of Gabbert. “I’ve been coaching for awhile and he’s probably one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen – him and his brother (2021 graduate Will Gabbert), they just have the work ethic. We do a lot of different drills in practice where he gets to work on the skillset. It’s fun to watch it come to pass and see him play and work within the offense.”
Playing in front of a sold-out crowd, the host Spartans fed off of the energy of the crowd with Gabbert giving the hosts and early advantage before Kellan Hefferman scored for Beckley. Kaiden Huffman made it an 8-2 game and Beckley again responded with a Coby Dillon 3 but Gabbert was money again in what ended up being a nine-point frame for the senior.
When the dust cleared the hosts held a 17-10 advantage after a quarter, holding Beckley to a 2 of 9 showing from the field in the frame.
“It’s all about execution,” Patton said. “Defensively we had a good game plan coming in and we knew they had one of the best players in the state (Elijah Redfern) and you have to contain him the best you can. Offensively, we talk about having patience and poise. Every single possession means something. A little bit of ball movement and we saw some gaps to attack. That’s what we did and it was part of the plan.”
The advantage increased nine points for the hosts at the half and it eventually ballooned to 16 after three quarters. Each time the Flying Eagles attempted to spark a run, they were matched by a shot from East that prevented them from gaining any traction.
“It’s all about execution,” Patton said. “In years past we would come out flat. In the third quarter we come out and run our sets and get what we need. We want to make sure it’s a good look. Whether we make the shot or not we want that look instead of just being helter skelter. We run a lot of different sets at the start of the third quarter to get what we want.”
Beckley slowly made its push through the fourth quarter whittling the deficit down the seven points with under two minutes to play behind a pair of Redfern buckets but the talented junior fouled out and was relegated to the bench. In his absence East closed the game at the line against Beckley’s group of underclassmen, going 10 of 18 from the charity stripe in the final frame.
For Beckley it was another frustrating showing against a Top 10 team. To date The Flying Eagles are 1-8 on the season against teams ranked in the Top 10 of the AP poll with the lone win coming against Class A James Monroe in December.
Beckley head coach Ron Kidd declined to comment after the loss.
Redfern led Beckley in the loss with 20 points while freshman Zion Hawthorne added 10.
Adam Seams (15) and Kaiden Huffman (11) joined Gabbert in double figures for East.
The Flying Eagles drop to 6-8 and will aim to change their luck against Top 10 teams when they travel to Class AA No. 2 Bluefield on Thursday.
East (9-4) will play Class AAAA No. 2 Parkersburg South, last year’s state runner-up, Friday at the Battle for the Springhouse at The Greenbrier.
Email: Tylerjackson@lootpress.com and follow on Twitter @tjack94
B: 10 12 14 17 – 53
GE: 17 14 19 16 – 66
Beckley
Coby Dillon 6, Elijah Redfern 20, Zion Hawthorne 10, Drew Fitzwater 2, Kellan Hefernan 2, Jaylon Walton 13
Greenbrier East
Adam Semas 15, Monquelle Davis 5, Goose Gabbert 23, Gabe Patton 4, Chrisn Sincalir 4, Kaiden Huffman 11, Jude Libby 1, Bryson Brammer 3
3-point goals – B: 2 (Dillon 2) ; GE: 3 (Gabbert 1, Brammer 1, Patton 1)
