2026 Battle for the Springhouse: Greenbrier East girls earn back-to-back championship titles
Ava Workman erupts for 30 points, hitting the game-winner in overtime to lift the Lady Spartans to a 57-55 win over Morgantown
The Greenbrier East girls basketball team is no stranger to hard fought wins at The Battle for the Springhouse.
Last year, the Lady Spartans grinded out a 55-54 win over Charleston Catholic to become the first two-time champion on the girls side.
Saturday night inside Colonial Hall at The Greenbrier, it was another intense battle and more history for Greenbrier East.
In a wild, back-and-forth clash that required an overtime period to decide the outcome, Ava Workman nailed a runner with seven seconds to play, giving the Class AAA No. 1-ranked Lady Spartans a 57-55 win over AAAA No. 4 Morgantown.
The win sets the Greenbrier East girls as the only three-time champion, boys or girls, at The Battle for the Springhouse.
Greenbrier East head coach, and U.S. Senator from West Virginia, Jim Justice talked about the championship win.
The Lady Spartans started hot building a 22-13 lead after the first quarter behind 14 points from Workman.
However, similar to their semifinal win over Parkersburg, the Lady Mohigans settled in on defense and placed the clamps on East.
Morgantown outscored Greenbrier East 14-9 in the second period, slashing the deficit to four points at 31-27.
Following a defensive struggle in the third quarter, the Lady Spartans held a 36-31 lead with eight minutes to play in regulation.
The lead went to 37-31 before the Lady Mohigans started to heat up from deep and made their move for the lead.
Triples from Maddie Ancell, who led Morgantown with 24 points, and Carper Messerly tied the game with 5:43 on the clock.
Riding the wild swing in momentum, Ava Clinton drilled a 3-ball a minute later for a 40-37 lead.
It was the first lead for the Lady Mohigans since a 3-0 advantage 30 seconds into the contest.
A steal and a layup from Alyssa Tingler pushed the lead to five points.
Workman then split two free throws to snap the Morgantown run before a steal from Sandy Banton led to a clutch 3-pointer from Kennedy Stewart.
Clinton answered with a runner for the visitors, but Greenbrier East's ability to pressure the ball and attack the basket, gave it multiple opportunities at the foul line.
Three free throws from Workman, two from Mackenna McClure and one from Hannah Fuller gave the Lady Spartans a 46-44 lead with 3.9 seconds to play.
With one last chance, Morgantown's Sydney Deuesenberry streaked to the basket, drawing a blocking foul with seven-tenths of a second on the clock.
Amidst the noise and chaos, the young sophomore buried both free throws to send the game to overtime.
The extra stanza was more back-and-forth excitement.
Both teams had the lead twice before the battle was tied at 51-51 with 1:34 to play.
Free throws from Stewart and McClure gave East a slight advantage that eventually went to four points on a score in the lane from McClure.
A charity toss from Deuesenberry and a second-chance 3-pointer for the sophomore standout tied the game at 55-55 with 13.3 seconds in the overtime session.
On a night where she reached 1,000 points for her career, Workman had one more highlight up her sleeve.
Going hard to the basket, Workman nailed a runner with seven ticks on the clock for the eventual game winner.
Morgantown rushed down the floor and created a good look on a mid-range corner jumper, but the ball rattled out just before the horn sounded.
Workman led all scorers on the night with 30 points and five rebounds. Stewart added eight points, to go with nine rebounds, five assists and four steals.
McClure finished with eight points and five rebounds, while Fuller and Banton each had seven rebounds. Fuller also recorded four blocks.
Deuesenberry tallied nine points, seven rebounds and four steals. Clinton (5 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals) and Messerly (6 rebounds) both had eight points. Tingler grabbed nine boards.
Workman talked about her historic night and the championship win.
