Boys Basketball State Tournament: Greater Beckley rallies to defeat East Hardy

Crusaders erase a six-point fourth quarter deficit to win 55-54, advancing to the Class A state championship game Saturday

Following a tough battle with Webster County in the quarterfinal round of the Boys State Basketball Tournament, Greater Beckley Christian found itself in dire straits midway through the fourth quarter against East Hardy Thursday night in the semis.

Once again the Crusaders were up to the challenge.

Exploding on a 12-2 run midway through the fourth quarter, Greater Beckley held off the upset-minded Cougars, 55-54.

The Crusaders advance to the Class A state championship game Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against two-time defending state champion Tug Valley.

Greater Beckley head coach Justin Arvon discussed the win over East Hardy.

Greater Beckley held a six-point lead after the first quarter and appeared poised to carry that lead into the halftime locker room before back-to-back turnovers allowed East Hardy to trim the advantage to just two points.

The Cougars carried the momentum into the second half, running off six more points before a 3-pointer from Jabari Spencer broke the ice for GBC, 90 seconds into the third quarter.

When the clock reached 2:03 to play in the third period, the Crusaders were holding a 34-27 lead.

Once again, East Hardy came storming back with seven straight points to tie the game with eight minutes to play.

After the teams traded baskets to open the fourth period, the Cougars scored three straight buckets in the paint to take a 42-36 lead with 5:27 to play.

A quick timeout from Arvon settled the troubled waters leading to a 12-2 spurt from his players to regain control of the contest.

Freshman Iziah Gordon drilled a 3-ball to pull GBC within one point following a duece from Eli Gunter.

Gunter then knocked in another long ball for a 46-43 lead.

The Cougars never regained the advantage, but refused to go quietly.

Greater Beckley was forced to seal the game at the line going 9-for-10 down the stretch, including a 6-for-6 effort from Gordon.

Gordon led the balanced attack for the Crusaders with 18 points. Jabari Spencer scored 11 and had 14 rebounds, while Eli Gunter added 10.

Javonte Spencer finished with nine points and Keelan Remy contributed seven key points and had seven rebounds in the win.

Gideon Good recorded a double-double with 17 points and 17 rebounds for the Cougars. Trevor Roof led all scorers with 20 points.

East Hardy head coach Chris Hahn talked about the narrow loss to the Crusaders.