HS Boys Basketball: James Monroe builds confidence at The Battle for the Springhouse

Mavericks split with AAA top-10 foes Greenbrier East and Bridgeport at The Greenbrier

James Monroe did not win the boys championship at the Battle for the Springhouse this past weekend.

However, the Mavericks still walked away with a huge boost of confidence.

Friday night inside Colonial Hall, AA No. 5-ranked James Monroe knocked of AAA No. 9 Greenbrier East in an overtime thriller.

In the championship game Saturday, AAA No. 3-ranked, and defending state champion, Bridgeport needed a fourth quarter comeback and a buzzer beater to knock off the Mavericks.

Prior to the season for many James Monroe fans, maybe even prior to the tournament, beating the Spartans and pushing the Indians to the limit probably seemed like a long shot.

Following the win over Greenbrier East, head coach Kelly Mann admitted that his team started the game not fully confident that it belonged in the battle with the Spartans.

That mentality changed as the game moved into the second quarter.

Trailing by 14 points nearing the midway point of the second stanza, James Monroe gathered itself and ran off 11 straight points.

While the confidence was there, the test against Greenbrier East was far from over.

The Spartans rebounded to build a 13-point lead in the third period, which stood at 53-43 when the horn sounded.

The new found confidence reared its head once again as the gritty Mavericks fought back to tie the game with eight seconds remaining in regulation.

The battle eventually went to overtime, but again, the test was far from over because junior standout Kadyn Hines had fouled out in the waning seconds of regulation.

The Mavericks never blinked and senior Ryan Man willed his team to what seemed like an improbable win scoring 10 points in the four-minute extra session.

When James Monroe hit the floor Saturday for the championship tilt, there was clearly a difference in its confidence level.

The Mavericks controlled the contest most of the way before falling victim to the late comeback by the Indians.

The disappointment was obvious, but so was the new found confidence.

James Monroe was a bit of an unknown product to open the season.

A new system with some new varsity faces were the question marks.

Before the season tipped, coach Mann was unsure how fast his team would pick up on the changes.

Although it was a bit of a roller-coaster ride, the Mavericks entered the new year, 4-1 with wins over Princeton and Woodrow Wilson.

Class AAA Shady Spring was the only team that got the best of the Monroe County boys early.

The rocky ride continued into the New River CTC Invitational, but the results were still positive.

Four straight regional victories, including wins over Westside and Independence in the New River Tournament gave James Monroe an 8-1 record heading into back-to-back top-five road clashes with Wyoming East and Bluefield.

Unfortunately for the Mavs, neither game went their way, but James Monroe still walked away with a solid jolt of confidence.

A 10-point third quarter lead against the Warriors faded in a 58-53 loss before the Mavericks fell in an overtime thriller to the Beavers.

At a point where the season could have gone either way, James Monroe came up big at The Greenbrier.

A huge key to the success for the Mavs has been the balance surrounding its two big horses.

Hines is nearly averaging a double-double at 19.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Ryan Mann is also a double-double threat at 13.4 points and 9.2 rebounds.

Lane Taylor and Jayden Miller are both tossing in 10 points per night, while Wyatt Mann, Bryce Gardinier and Bryer Surface add six points per contest.

Playing in arguably the toughest region in Class AA, the question now is, can the Mavericks ride the confidence gained from inside Colonial Hall into a state tournament berth?

Obviously the answer is yes, but what that path will look like is still to be determined.

After coming out on what he felt like was the wrong end of the seeding votes last year, Mann has made it clear he doesn't care who or where his team plays in the postseason.

His plan is to have his team battle tested with a tough schedule.

However, the Mavs are definitely not opposed to playing their postseason games at Lindside in front of its normal rowdy crowd.

Before Tuesday's action, James Monroe, with its two regional losses, was eying the No. 3-seed behind Bluefield and Wyoming East.

All of that took a crazy turn Tuesday night when Westside upset Bluefield in Clear Fork. The win for the Renegades came after a lopsided loss in Mercer County earlier in the season.

Wyoming East sits in the drivers seat at the moment, with zero regional losses, while the Mavericks and the Beavers are tied in the column for regional setbacks.

James Monroe now controls its own fate in regards to home court advantage.

Bluefield and Wyoming East both come to Lindside in the coming weeks, while the Warriors will battle the Beavers at Bluefield.

Wyoming East will also host Westside in their second Wyoming County clash this year on Feb. 13.

James Monroe has regional road games at Summers County and Midland Trail, while Bluefield has home and home dates with Liberty and a home game against Midland Trail.

As my former sportswriter buddy and current Marshall University Athletic Director of Communications, Grant Traylor, liked to say, "Get your popcorn ready."

The next few weeks will be some serious basketball drama in southern West Virginia.