WHITE SULPHUR SPGS- Although third place was not the goal going in, the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans had to be happy with their performance at the Battle for the Springhouse consolation game on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 3 when they defeated the Mingo Central Lady Miners 69-57.
After a shocking loss to Logan the night before, and a game that Kennedy Stewart was held to just six points, East and Stewart came out ready to put that defeat behind them.
Stewart had a huge first quarter and hit four 3-pointers and totaled 15 points. Hannah Fuller also played well on the inside and after one, East led 23-14.
Mackenna McClure’s bucket early in the second put East ahead 27-19 and Stewart tacked on two free throws the next time down. Josie Banton then secured an offensive rebound and scored on the putback, then the next possession, Banton hit the ground to keep a rebound alive, and then batted it out to Stewart who hit a long right-wing 3 and East held a commanding 34-19 lead. Mingo’s best player, Addy Smith, hit a 3 of her own a couple minutes later that pulled the Miners to within 36-23, but a Jada Waller bucket and an Ava Workman floater at the halftime buzzer gave the Spartans a 40-25 advantage at intermission.
East (14-4) consistently stayed in front throughout the second half. Stewart scored the first four points in the third period and Fuller scored a tough basket in the paint midway through. Gianna Akers provided a challenge underneath for Fuller as well as Akers had a couple nice moves around the basket that resulted in Miner points. With Mingo Central (10-8) clawing back and down just 49-38, Waller hit an important trifecta that extended that Spartans lead to 52-38 after three.
Delaney Grimmett kept things close and interesting for Mingo Central as she got freed up in the corner on a couple different occasions for 3s, but the key sequence that wrapped things up for East was a Stewart 3, an inbounds pass steal and dish to McClure for two, and a Workman shot from distance. At that time, East led 60-41. They played good, team basketball the rest of the way and captured that third-place finish.
Stewart finished with 29 points (6-of-13 from 3-pt) and 9 rebounds. Workman scored 14 points and had 4 steals. Fuller had 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds, and McClure pulled down 11 boards.
Smith led the Miners with 26 points. Grimmett scored 14 and Akers put in 10 points.
The Lady Spartans will now shift their focus to a huge upcoming week. They will host James Monroe on Tuesday night, Feb 6, and host Princeton the following Thursday night. Both tipoff times are at 7:30 PM. East has already lost to both of those teams on the road this year and will be looking to avenge those outcomes.
*NOTE* North Marion won the girls championship and Morgantown took home the boy’s crown.
