Charleston – The crusade continues into Championship Saturday.
Top-seeded Greater Beckley used a fourth quarter run to pull itself off the mat Thursday evening, dropping No. 4 East Hardy 55-54 in the Class A semifinals at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
The win sends the Crusaders to their first state title game since 2022 where they’ll meet No. 2 Tug Valley in a rematch of last year’s semifinal game.
Trailing 42-36 with just under five minutes to play, the Crusaders watched as their title game hopes started slipping away. But their ability to work the offensive boards led to a pair of second-chance buckets, none bigger than the 3 Eli Gunter hit to give the Crusaders the lead for good at 46-44 with 2:26 to play.
“Early in the game my shots weren’t falling,” Gunter said. “I feel like I’m a shooter and I always have been. I knew that it would fall eventually and my teammates trusted me.”
The sequence came after GBC guard Javonte Spencer missed a layup but an offensive board by Keelan Remy and an immediate kick to an open Gunter flipped the game.
“The little things that don’t show up, right?” Greater Beckley head coach Justin Arvon said. “What a big rebound that was! It might have been one of the bigger plays of the game and it came from a guy that if you looked at the state sheet he wouldn’t be on this podium but he should be.
“Those are the plays he makes all night long and guarding (East Hardy’s Gideon Good) all night long, battling his tail end off. You can’t ask for more out of that. He’s effort, he’s intensity and we want him on the floor and we have to have him on the floor. What a huge rebound and huge play but we expect that of him.”
In all the Crusaders used a 12-2 run during their go-ahead spurt, getting 11 points from freshman Iziah Gordon in the final frame to key the comeback. He went 2-for-2 from the field but cemented the game with a 6-for-6 showing from the line.
“I’m just thinking how bad the team needs it,” Gordon said. “We have to hit those (free throws) or they score and tie it up and win. Those are big shots and I know I have to make them not for me, but the team to win.”
On their way to an early rout up 16-8, the Crusaders never could shake the Cougars, struggling with center Gideon Good who scored 17 points and grabbed as many rebounds. He led a charge that saw East Hardy put up 40 of its 54 points in the paint.
“We knew we had a bad matchup going in physically and that proved to be true,” Arvon said. “Physicality and winning, that’s not always measured. Heart matters too. Keelan changed the game on the defensive side of the ball for us. I don’t think we had anybody in (plus-minus) double digits for us and that’s a testament to his defensive prowess and what he wants to do and is willing to do on that side of the floor which is just as important – well I’m a defensive guy so it’s more important than the offensive side for us.”
Ahead 23-15 in the second quarter following a Javonte Spencer layup, the Crusaders went scoreless over the final 2:43 of the of the second quarter, watching the Cougars rally to within two points at the break.
That run extended into the second half and capped at 11-0 before Jabari Spencer netted a 3, kicking off an 11-0 Crusader surge. But it was just another exchange of runs with East Hardy tying the game at 34 heading into the final frame.
The teams tied again at 36 before East Hardy seemed poised to pull away but the decisive run belonged to the Crusaders, putting them ahead 48-44 with 1:06 to play.
Down four with 30 seconds remaining, Evan Hamilton netted a 3 to bring the Cougars back within a point but a pair of missed 3-pointers with under 10 seconds to play capped a 1-of-12 night from deep for East Hardy which was without starter Mason Hamilton for all but eight minutes after suffering an injury in the waning seconds of their Tuesday quarterfinal win over Parkersburg Catholic.
“Mason was hurt,” East Hardy head coach Chris Hahn said. “He’s our guy from deep. They put their best player on Evan so that kind of neutralizes Evan and his ability to score out there. We figured we were trading one-for-one with their point guard and our point guard. He was long and athletic and fast and we figured we would trade that with Evan and we figured it would be a one-for-one give with that. We expected it but when Mason can’t go that hinders our outside ability.”
Up next is a Tug Valley team on the cusp of a dynasty after winning the last two state championships.
The Crusaders were one of their causalities a year ago in a 71-63 semifinal loss that saw the Panthers hit nine 3-pointers. Gunter and Spencer, who both started that game, are the lone holdovers from that contest.
“We’re excited to play,” Arvon said. “Two teams get a chance to play for a championship at the end of the year and one gets excited and one gets upset. Coach (Rabbit) Thompson’s had them there a lot. He has a good program, he has good respectful kids and they play their tail ends off for him. I don’t think. coach can ask any more of his kids than that and that’s why they’re consistently there.
“They’re unselfish, they’re a good basketball team. We have to come ready to play from the tip to the buzzer whether we’re up 10 ordain 10, it doesn’t matter. Our intensity and heart have to be there on Saturday. They’re seasoned, they are older than us, I think the sentiment probably going in is not in our favor. We don’t care. We’re playing the game to win on Saturday. That’s our goal.”
Gordon led the Crusaders with 18 points in the win while Jabari Spencer scored 11 points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
Trevor Roof led East Hardy with 20 points.
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