FAIRLEA- Last month, the Greenbrier East Spartans used a big fourth quarter to defeat the Oak Hill Red Devils in comeback fashion on the road and picked up a big sectional win in the process.
However, East (4-6) hosted the return trip in Fairlea on Tuesday night, Jan. 9 except this time the end result was not like the first meeting. Oak Hill used a balanced attack on offense and made just a few more plays down the stretch and left town with a 62-54 victory over the Spartans.
After falling behind by eight in the opening quarter, the Spartans settled in, had a couple 3s from Gabe Patton and trailed just 18-15 after the first quarter even though Patton picked up a couple early fouls.
Donavin Penn gave East a 27-25 lead with 1:38 left in the first half after an offensive rebound putback on a missed shot from deep by Patton. That prompted Oak Hill to call a timeout and the stoppage worked as the Red Devils scored the final five points of the half and led 30-27 at the break.
The Red Devils (3-5) looked to Malachi Lewis and Trevor Kelly in the third and those two helped Oak Hill keep a steady lead throughout the period. At the end of the third, the Spartans trailed 44-36 after scoring just six points in that third quarter.
Patton hit a 3 to open the fourth to cut the deficit to 44-39. Fast forward to under three minutes to go and Patton went on a scoring streak to pull East within two at 51-49. Layne Lambert had a huge block that excited the crowd, but some missed free throws by the Spartans down the stretch and a few made ones from Oak Hill’s Lewis was enough to seal the deal for the Red Devils.
Patton led East in scoring with 19 points and was named the Magic’s Computer Repair player of the game. Hamric chipped in 14 points for East.
Lewis led Oak Hill with 19.
East will head to Shady Spring this Friday night for a key game with the defending state runners up, Tigers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
Scoring by Quarter:
1 2 3 4 Tot.
OH 18 12 14 18 62
GE 15 12 9 18 54
GE Individual Scoring: Patton 19, Hamric 14, Lambert 6, Penn 4, DeHaven 4, McCraw 3, Dixon 2, Tomlinson 2
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