Regional Boys Basketball: Key spurt pushes Greater Beckley past Greenbrier West

Late 2nd-quarter spurt leads to the Class A Region 3 co-final title for the Crusaders

The Greater Beckley Christian boys basketball team entered the Class A Region 3 co-final championship as a heavy favorite against No. 3-seed Greenbrier West.

Crusaders head coach Justin Arvon still had concerns.

Postseason upsets by the Cavaliers were nothing new in recent memory.

Wednesday night, however, an upset bid was not in the cards.

Riding a couple of key spurts, Greater Beckley held off Greenbrier West, 76-57 in front of as packed house at the Helton Family Center.

The Crusaders earned the No. 1-seed in the 2026 Boys State Basketball Tournament inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.

Greater Beckley will play No. 8-seed Webster County Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Coach Arvon talked about the win over Greenbrier West.

The home team struggled early and trailed 4-0 before Jabari Spencer hit two free throws and Javonte Spencer scored on a stick back midway through the first quarter.

Javonte gave the Crusaders their first lead on an old-school 3-point play, but West had the answer.

Carter Vandall nailed a triple to tie the contest and Colton Dunbar put the visitors back in front, 9-7 with a stick back.

Unfortunately for Greenbrier West, it was its last lead of the night.

Keelan Remy tied the game for the final time and senior Eli Gunter gave GBC the lead for good when he rained in a 3-ball at the 2:22 mark.

Trailing 16-11 after the first quarter, Vandall knocked in another 3-pointer, but seven straight points from the Crusaders quickly pushed the lead to 23-14.

Although the Cavaliers played GBC close most of the first half, all of that good work faded in the final two minutes of the second period.

A pair of steals that turned into layups by Javonte Spencer, along with a bucket from Iziah Gordon and two free throws from Jabari Spencer gave the Crusaders a 35-20 lead at the break.

With just under a minute to play in the third quarter, the Greater Beckley lead was 22 points, but West was not quite finished.

A 9-2 run to open the fourth quarter, trimmed the 21-point deficit to start the final period back to 14 points with 5:26 to play

It was the last gasp for the Cavaliers.

Seven points from Jabari Spencer stemmed the tide for the Crusaders who pulled away, going back up by 21 points with three minutes to play.

Jabari Spencer led all scorers with 24 points, followed by Gordon with 22 points and Javonte Spencer had 15.

Gunter added nine points and Remy, who did his best work on the boards and keeping plays alive, scored six.

Vandall totaled 19 points for West, while Kamden Sams had 14 points and Dunbar scored 12. Shane Plogger chipped in 10 points and Jesse Walkup had two points.

Greenbrier West head coach Jared Robertson talked about the game Wednesday night.

GW: 11 9 15 22 - 57

GB: 16 19 21 20 - 76