LEWISBURG (WVDN) – The Greenbrier East Lady Spartans had not been on the hardwood since a Jan. 13 loss to Woodrow Wilson, due to head coach and Gov. Jim Justice contracting COVID-19, but East finally got back to action on Saturday night, Jan. 28, when they hosted the Hurricane Redskins. Unfortunately for the Spartans, they were definitely a little rusty and suffered a low-scoring 41-38 defeat.
The timing seemed to be a little off, which is normal when you do not play a live game for 15 days, but still, the Spartans played well enough to win and were right in the mix until the end.
In the opening quarter, East came out pretty well and made some plays, but the Redskins’ Gabby Quiano and Maggie Oduor were thorns in their sides. Mackenna McClure played well for East, as the Redskins led 11-9 after one.
Ryan White hit a big 3 from the corner to give the Spartans a 22-21 lead midway through the second quarter, but Quiano’s jumper and Maddy Young’s triple gave Hurricane a 26-22 lead at halftime.
Young came out of the locker room and hit another 3 to start the third quarter; then Alex Anderson followed with an old-fashioned 3-point play and a 32-22 Hurricane lead with just over four minutes to play. Kennedy Stewart answered with a trifecta, and a couple possessions later, her sister, Cadence Stewart, scored to cut the deficit to 34-27.
Skip ahead to halfway through the fourth quarter with the Redskins leading 40-31 after two Oduor free throws, and it appeared the Spartans were done.
But not playing for a while does have its perks, as East had extra energy in the tank for such an occasion. Hannah Fuller grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in, then Hurricane’s Erin Dempsey picked up a technical foul on the other end. After two missed free throws by Quiano, K. Stewart shot the freebies for East and made 1 to cut the score to 40-35 with 34 seconds to go.
With 21 seconds remaining and East still down by 5, K. Stewart let a 3 go from the top of the key and swished it, making for a 2-point game. Young converted 1-of-2 at the line for the Redskins, but Caroline Dotson’s game-tying 3 attempt was blocked, and Hurricane celebrated their big road victory.
White was named the Player of the Game for East. K. Stewart had 10 points in the defensive-minded battle.
East shot just 16% from 3-point range.
Oduor led the Redskins with 11 points.
The Lady Spartans will return home this Wednesday night, Feb. 1, for a makeup game with Oak Hill.
