FAIRLEA- When a basketball team sees one of their top scorers go down early in a game, that typically means it may be tough to get points for the rest of the night.
On Tuesday night, Jan. 2, that is exactly what happened to the Greenbrier East Spartans in their first official basketball game of the 2024 calendar year.
East (2-5) struggled to get the ball in the basket consistently and went on a few too many scoring droughts in a low-scoring 46-36 loss to the Musselman Applemen.
Gabe Patton hit the ground in pain early in the first quarter after stepping on an opposing player’s foot, and the Spartans senior leader never returned to the floor, and East had trouble replacing his production.
They looked to Brody Hamric to find offense shortly thereafter and the sophomore delivered with the team’s first eight points. He got a bucket inside, hit two free throws, made a layup, and then capped it all off with a jumper as the Spartans trailed 9-8 with 1:30 left in the period. Musselman’s Trenton Whitmer drained a 3 to put the Applemen up 12-8, but Peyton DeHaven answered with a foul line extended jumper and the Spartans trailed by just two, 12-10 after one quarter.
East went on a mini 6-0 run early in the second on two Jakob Tomlinson free throws, a Nathan Dixon basket, and a driving layup from Tomlinson again. At that point they led 17-14, but unfortunately for East, that would be the last time they held an advantage. Matthew Mahood and Gavin McClain led a scoring attack sandwiched around Wade Bartles trifecta, and Musselman held a slim 23-22 lead at halftime.
McClain continued his stellar play in the third quarter along with 6’3” senior Troy Woolaston. McClain gave the Applemen (6-1) a 34-26 lead with a 3-pointer late in the third and Woolaston canned two freebies at the line to give Musselman a 10-point lead (36-26) heading into the fourth after the Spartans could only muster up four total points in the third.
Each team scored just 10 points in the final quarter, and the Spartans cut the deficit to eight points on two different occasions, but both times, Musselman would answer with a block or a steal and a bucket on the other end Woolaston or Logan Shelton.
Hamric led East with 10 points and was the only double figure scorer for East. McClain led Musselman with 18 points.
According to Spartan head coach Jared Patton, Gabe Patton will have an X-ray done on Wednesday morning as a precaution to see the extent of his injury and then his playing status going forward can be evaluated.
The Spartans next game is this Thursday, Jan. 4 in Beckley at the New River CTC Invitational at the Raleigh County Convention Center. Tipoff time is 6:15 PM.
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