Normally at the beginning of March, high school basketball teams are focused and geared up for post-season play.
However, along with everything else it seems, this season is a little different and just now getting started.
That was the case at the Spartan gym in Fairlea on Friday, March 4, when the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans kicked off the new year by hosting the Musselman Lady Applemen and followed that one up with a contest the very next night against the Lewis County Minutemaids.
Unfortunately, East fell short in both games as they lost 70-45 on Friday and suffered a total heartbreaking 62-61 defeat on Saturday.
In the first game against Musselman, the Spartans pretty much hung with their counterparts in the first half.
Sophomore Cadence Stewart got the scoring started with a driving layup and a couple of possessions later, newcomer Brookelyn Morgan scored on an offensive rebound to tie the score at 4-4 early.
The Applemen’s Allison Burdette drained a 3-pointer, but Morgan answered again for the Spartans from deep, then Brooke Davis got a steal and fed Stewart for another bucket, and the score was knotted up at 11-all late in the first period.
Musselman led 14-12 after one.
Stewart knocked in a step-back three to open the second quarter scoring and Davis got loose on a fast break basket to give the Spartans a 17-14 lead.
Another Stewart three-pointer midway the second period gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the night at 22-17, but from that point forward, Musselman flipped a switch.
The Applemen (1-0) started crashing the boards and forcing turnovers en route to a 28-24 halftime lead. And then the third quarter was just a continuation of the latter part of the first half.
Haley Jenkins scored underneath and followed that up with a long trifecta and Musselman was up 33-24 to start the second half. Davis and Stewart tried to keep the Spartans close as both had good third quarters, but Musselman’s depth and physicality was just too much. East trailed 56-37 going into the fourth and never could get any closer.
Stewart led the way with 21 points and eight rebounds for the Spartans. Davis had 11 points and six steals. Morgan contributed nine points and six rebounds.
Musselman was led by Burdette who had 19 points and seven assists.
On Saturday, East head coach Jim Justice went with a whole new lineup and said before the game that, “it’s almost liked we erased everything and started from scratch,” referring to the youthful Spartans and the new faces.
One of those new faces, Marley Patterson, did not have a varsity uniform until Saturday and was thrust into the starting lineup against Lewis County. Patterson was part of an 8-2 run to start the contest as she nailed a 3-pointer and played aggressive defense.
Another new insertion to the starting lineup, Layla Pence, got an offensive rebound score that put East up 17-10 midway through the first period and the changes were looking helpful early.
Stewart canned her third three of the quarter and was almost single-handedly outscoring the Minutemaids team. After one, East led 25-16.
Stewart hit her fourth 3-pointer of the night early in the second, but Olivia Krinov and Emma Starett kept Lewis County within striking distance. But East continued to be consistent as Patterson hit another three and Tucker Nunley scored at the halftime buzzer as the Spartans took a 37-23 lead into the break.
Lewis County (2-1) went on a 10-0 run to start the third period until Stewart scored to halt it. Stewart scored the team’s first seven points of the quarter until Allie Dunsford’s driving layup. Lewis County had cut the deficit to just 39-36, but East’s lead swelled back to 15 points, 54-39 after three quarters.
That is when things started to go south for the Spartans.
They could not find an answer to stop Lewis County’s Emma Cayton. Sandwiched around a Krinov and Starett score, Cayton was lights out the rest of the way while the Spartans struggled to manage any offense.
Cayton hit a floater to make it 56-51, East, midway through the final period. Then she hit a 3-pointer. Dunsford answered with a three of her own for the Spartans, but Cayton answered yet again with another shot from deep. At that point, the Spartans led 59-54 with just over two minutes remaining.
Cayton then swished another three two possessions later to tie the contest at 59-all with 1:50 to go.
East (0-2) looked to their go-to player, Stewart who hit a runner with under a minute to play to give East the lead back at 61-59.
However, the Minutemaids came down the floor, found Cayton for another dagger three and Lewis County took a 62-61 lead with 12 seconds left. That would be the final score after East’s Nunley missed a game-winning attempt at the buzzer.
Lewis County led for just those 12 seconds all night.
Stewart once again led the way for East with 33 points, six assists and five rebounds. She was also 7-of-9 from 3-point range. Davis had six points, nine rebounds and three steals. Pence had 10 rebounds.
Cayton led Lewis County with 23 points (20 in the second half) and pulled down 10 rebounds. Krinov had 17 points and 14 rebounds.
Stats and quotes courtesy of Oldies, 93.3
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