Regional HS Boys Basketball: Shady Spring get defensive to knock off Greenbrier East

Coby Dillon scores 22 points and the Tigers hold the Spartans to seven first-half points in the 53-39 win

all photos courtesy of Heather Belcher

The 2025-26 boys basketball season has been far from smooth for Shady Spring.

Injuries, new faces and a young line-up were all part of a roller-coaster ride for the Tigers.

Through all of the adversity, Shady Spring still found a way to place itself one win away from another state tournament berth.

Standing in its way was Greenbrier East who was also hungry for a state tournament berth.

The Tigers turned to the element that has made them a two-time state champion - defense.

Holding the visiting Spartans to seven points in the first half, Shady Spring pulled away for a 53-39 win in front of a sold-out crowd inside Dave Wills Gym.

The Tigers are the No. 7-seed in the Boys State Basketball Tournament next week and will play No. 2-seed North Marion at 1 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson talked about returning to the Capitol City.

With the game tied 5-5, the Tigers ran off 10 straight points to build a 17-9 lead at the break in the first half defensive struggle.

Greenbrier East responded to open the second half by cutting the lead back to four points at 20-16, before seven consecutive points from Coby Dillon stretched the lead to double digits.

When the third quarter horn sounded, Shady Spring led 36-20 and was in full control.

Dillon led the Tigers with 22 points followed by Cutter Boggs with a double-double, 12 points and 10 rebounds. fellow big man Jace Lilly added eight points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Gabe Short also had eight points and five rebounds, while Jace Bailey added three points, seven assists, three assists and had two steals.

Darius Burns paced the Spartans with 13 points and Nate Dixon scored 11. Braylen Godfrey tossed in six points and Brody Hamric had five points. Gabe Neal and Dubya Vickers chipped in two points apiece.

GE: 5 4 11 19 - 39

SS: 8 9 19 17 - 53