WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS (WVDN) – It was not the outcome they hoped for, but when you look at the schedule and how the Greenbrier East Spartans performed in the Battle for the Springhouse at The Greenbrier, things could be a whole lot worse.
The fifth-ranked Spartans lost game one on Friday night, Feb. 3, to the second-ranked Parkersburg South Patriots 78-69, then fell in a hard fought 49-45 battle to the ninth-ranked Cabell Midland Knights.
Aside from the East outcomes, the tournament was once again a top notch, entertaining event in year two that will, hopefully, continue to grow in the coming years.
In the opener against the Patriots, the game was about as entertaining as any game you are going to see.
Chris Sinclair got the Spartans on the scoreboard first with a basket in the paint, and two Kaiden Huffman free throws tied the game at 4-all early in the first. Parkersburg South went on a little run from there, however, with scores from Cyrus Traugh and Austin Reeves. Throw in a Jackson Smith layup and a bucket from Aiden Blake, and the Pats led 12-6 with three minutes left in the quarter.
The Spartans made things harder on themselves with a plethora of missed layups and shots around the rim. On several occasions, they would have a fast break opportunity only to miss the close-range shot. They dug themselves a hole because of those misses and Traugh’s play. Harry Silvis also hit a couple 3s, and the Patriots led 24-15 after one.
As East normally does, they battled back in the second period. After getting down by 11 points, Goose Gabbert converted a 3-point play, then scored 5 more straight points that brought the Spartans within 5 at 28-23. An Adam Seams basket and a Monquelle Davis 3-point play trimmed the Parkersburg South lead to just 2, and they actually took the lead with 1:25 left until half when Seams found Sinclair for another basket. However, Silvis hit a 3 just as the buzzer sounded, and the Pats took a 33-32 lead into the break.
A back-and-forth third period made for some good basketball. Both sides took their turns with highlight plays only to be answered by the other. Seams and Gabbert scored 6 and 5 points, respectively, in the quarter as the third period ended with a 53-all tie.
Then the fourth quarter happened, and not one thing went East’s way.
The Patriots (11-3) opened the quarter on a 12-0 run, and Nathan Plotner, who got in foul trouble early, put the exclamation point on with two dunks in the latter part, as the Patriots sealed the deal against the hometown Spartans.
Gabbert had a game tying-high 23 points. Seams and Davis added 11 to the East total.
Traugh led the Pats with 23; Blake scored 16; and Plotner had 15.
PS: 24 9 20 25
GE: 15 17 21 16
Parkersburg South Scoring:
Austin Reeves 9, Cyrus Traugh 23, Micah Jones 2, Jackson Smith 2, Cole Joy 2, Harry Silvis 9, Nate Plotner 15, Aiden Blake 16
Greenbrier East Scoring:
Adam Seams 11, Monquelle Davis 11, Goose Gabbert 23, Gabe Patton 4, Bryson Brammer 5, Kaiden Huffman 7, Chris Sinclair 6.
East came right back out the next afternoon in the consolation game against the Knights, and it too was a nail biter from start to finish.
Well, maybe not so much at the start for the Spartans.
They scored just 4 points in the opening quarter, a Gabbert layup and a Seams layup, and Cabell Midland (8-7) countered with Jack Eastone and Domonic Schmidt. Schmidt also had a nice feed into Isaac Pettit that made the score 13-4, Knights, after one.
The Spartans (9-5) picked up the offensive pace in the second as Davis provided a nice spark off the bench. Gabbert also hit a couple of big shots as East cut the deficit to 22-18 at halftime.
Both teams continued to play even in the second half, but the Spartans struggled to contain Aidan Cottrell in the painted area. At one point he had three consecutive scores for his team, and as the quarter ended, he hit a mid-range jump shot that broke a 30-30 tie and gave the Pats a 2-point lead at the end of three.
As well as the Spartans played in the tourney, they could never quite get over that fourth quarter hump that seemed to plague them in the two contests. After two free throws from Seams cut the Knights lead to 42-40, Cabell Midland went on a 9-5 run the rest of the way with the nail in the coffin coming by way of Petitit’s foul shot that made it a two-possession game and a Cabell Midland victory.
Cottrell led the Knights with 14 points. Pettit also got 14.
Gabbert’s 21 points paced the Spartans.
GE: 4 14 12 15
CM: 13 9 10 17
Greenbrier East Scoring:
Seams 4, Davis 5, Gabbert 21, Sinclair 8, Huffman 4, Patton 3.
Cabell Midland Scoring:
Jack Eastone 8, Dominic Schmidt 8, Isaac Pettit 14, Aiden Cottrell 14, Ethan Bohm 5.
