Fairlea – Aaron Griffith may resemble Clark Kent, but Friday night he was definitely Superman.
Feasting off the penetration from his Greenbrier East teammates, Griffith poured in 27 points to lead the Spartans to a 65-50 win over Princeton in the Class AAAA Region 3, Section 2 championship game in Fairlea.
“Aaron has had to change roles this year because we don’t have a big guy. He is a great shooter, but we don’t normally use him that way,” Greenbrier East head coach Jared Patton said. “We kept telling him that he would make a living down there. We work on positioning all the time and finishing all the time. We penetrated tonight and he was hovering around. We kicked it to him and he is a great finisher.”
Feeding the rock to Griffith was all-state guard Adam Seams who created havoc all night by slicing through the Princeton defense.
“Take nothing away from Griffith, but Seams made it happen, make no mistake. We had to go off and then he made passes,” Princeton head coach Robb Williams said. “When you get a good facilitator like that, if you are a good athlete, you are going make those buckets and (Griffith) did. He finished.”
Princeton led 15-14 after a highly energized first quarter. However, the speed also took it’s toll on the Tigers who entered the second quarter in major foul trouble.
“It was a real good first quarter for both teams, but we were hampered with foul trouble. That will kill you, especially when you are playing a good team like they are,” Williams said. “Usually my bench is solid. Sometimes when I put the bench in, we play better. Tonight it was not the same. We got behind after that and we couldn’t make it up.”
A slam from Jon Wellman brought an explosion from the Princeton faithful to open the second quarter.
Seams then quieted the visiting crowd with four straight free-throws to hand East its first advantage of the night.
E.J. Washington gave the Tigers their final lead with a bucket before foul issues and the play of Griffith at the rim helped East separate the game.
The 6-foot 1 senior scored 10 straight points, including back-to-back old school 3-point plays to send East on a 15-0 run for a 33-19 advantage that never got inside double figures the rest of the night.
“They were able to penetrate and beat us off the dribble up top. They ran a pick and roll as well,” Williams said. “You can tell them what to do and draw it out, but it is a little harder when the game is going fast.”
East led by 19 late in the third quarter before Princeton made a run and cut the lead back to 12 with just over six minutes to play.
Griffith scored six straight, two off assists from Seams, to crush any hope of a miraculous comeback by the Tigers.
“We have played basketball for a long time together and it has translated to high school,” Griffith said of his chemistry with Seams. “We have found something that works and we are going to keep doing it until somebody stops it.”
The final bucket of the night by the Greenbrier East big man came on a slam dunk which caused a seismic eruption for the home crowd.
The crowd was a big factor. They helped me get up there,” Griffith said, smiling. “I love seeing there reaction with the jumping and screaming. It was awesome.”
Seams complemented Griffith’s night with 10 points, while Goose Gabbert added eight. Kris Joyce led the Tigers with 18 points and Grant Cochran scored 10 points.
“Hats off to them, they deserved to win. This is obviously a tough place to play. The foul trouble was the key,” Williams said. “When you have four of your five starters in foul trouble, it doesn’t matter how good your team is. They are starters for a reason. The whole second quarter they hardly played.”
After battling the ups and downs of the season that included numerous heartbreaking losses, East will host its first regional co-final championship since 2010.
“We had to grow up. That has been our story all season,” Patton said. “Princeton was a good team. I was happy when they got the fouls on them because they were really big. We just continue to grow as a team and believing in one another. Our job is not done.”
The Spartans must now beat defending Class AAAA state champion George Washington in the Region 3 co-final to earn a state tournament berth. It is a team that East is very familiar with.
“They knocked us out last year and we have been looking for revenge,” Griffith said. “This is the game we have been looking forward to all year. We knew we would have to go through them to get to states and that is what we are going to try our best to do.”
Princeton is also still alive for a trip to the boys state tournament in Charleston. The Tigers will play at South Charleston in their Region 3 co-final clash.
Both games will be played Wednesday at 7 p.m.
P: 15 9 12 14 – 50
GE: 14 23 13 15 – 65
Princeton
Chase Hancock 6, Grant Cochran 10, Chris Joyce 18, E.J. Washington 7, Jon Wellman 4, Koen Sartin 5.
Greenbrier East
Kole Withrow 2, Adam Seams 10, Monquelle Davis 6, Goose Gabbert 8, Aaron Griffith 27, Gabe Patton 4, Kaiden Huffman 3, Jude Libby 1, Bryson Brammer 4.
