Last year Webster County and Greenbrier West entered postseason play as underdogs to make the field at the state tournament in Charleston.
Both teams defied the odds and punched their tickets to the big dance.
This year, the scenario is much the same.
“I think we have put our self in position, so we will see what happens. We have been a little up and down, but the season is always a grind,” Greenbrier West head coach Jared Robertson said. “We probably have not prepared for individual games as much the last couple of weeks because we have been working on some things for the postseason. That probably hasn’t helped any, but I think our kids are ready to go give it a shot.”
Greenbrier West stunned highly favored James Monroe on the road last year to earn its state tournament bid while Webster County beat Greater Beckley Christian in a wild overtime thriller in Upper Glade.
Before any of that can transpire this year, both teams will have to take care of business in the opening round of Class A Region 3, Section 2 play Tuesday at Oak Hill High School.
Top-seeded Webster County will play No. 4 seed Meadow Bridge, while No. 2 seed Greenbrier West will battle No. 3 seed Richwood.
The championship game will also be played in Oak Hill Thursday at 7 p.m.
Robertson’s crew has played Richwood twice this year winning handily in both contests. However, the Cavaliers head man is not looking past the Lumberjacks.
“(Richwood head coach) J.B. (Miller) has sat in our gym four or five times the last few weeks watching us so, I am sure he has put together some things to see what they can do against us,” Robertson said.
Although Richwood has struggled to get wins this year, the Lumberjacks have some scoring threats.
“(Brayden) Spencer and (Cooper) Donahue are both very dangerous and they can score a lot of points,” Robertson said. “They also have some kids around them that have the potential to make shots too. They are very dangerous to be honest.”
The strength this season for Greenbrier West has come from its balance on the floor.
Brothers Chase McClung (15.9) and Brayden McClung (13.5) lead the scoring for West, but Michael Kanode (11.9) also averages double figures. The Cavaliers get strong contributions from Elijah Perkins (8.0) and Dale Boone (6.4) as well.
“I feel like Michael Kanode has played his best basketball the last couple of weeks. I think he has taken his effort to score, rebound and block shots to another level which has really helped us,” Robertson said. “Perkins, (Ty) Nickell and Boone can play around the basket. We have the potential to score in a lot of different ways, we just have to make some shots.”
The Highlanders are led by one of the state’s best scorers in Rye Gadd. The versatile senior is averaging right at 30 points per game and pulls down an average of eight rebounds per night.
So far this season, Gadd has scored 42 points against Greater Beckley to go over 1,000 points for his career before he dropped in 51 on Doddridge County to become the all-time leading scorer for the Highlanders.
Gadd is flanked by the sophomore duo of Riley Clevenger and Ray Triplett who add 10 points per game.
Webster enters the postseason with only three losses and has lost just once since a setback to Class A No. 1 James Monroe on Jan. 8.
The Highlanders have two regular season wins each over the Cavaliers and the Lumberjacks, but have not played Meadow Bridge
“They do a really good job with their matchup zone,” Robertson said. “They play it every year and the kids know their rotations in it. You have to be aggressive and go at them.”
Meadow Bridge (3-19) has also had its fair share of struggles this year, but the Wildcats have had solid seasons from Rian Cooper, Jaden Gladwell, Seaton Mullins, Conner Mullins and Dustin Adkins.
The X-factor for the sectional clash could be the venue itself, which has characteristically been tough on jump shooters.
“I am going to be optimistic and say it helps us because we don’t shoot well in any building. It brings other people back down to us a little bit,” Robertson said, laughing. “It doesn’t matter who you play, what defense you play or how hard you play, until you make shots. We have to go there and make shots.”
