FAIRLEA- The hype train pulled into the station at the Spartan Gym in Fairlea on Friday night, Dec. 20 when the Greenbrier East Spartans hosted the Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles in an early season rivalry matchup.
Even though a valiant fourth-quarter effort gave the Spartans some life late, the Eagles held on for a 71-59 victory in front of a rowdy crowd.
Beckley, playing its first game of this new season, waltzed into Fairlea unbothered by any of the outside noise that this game usually brings.
They got off to a quick start and jumped out to a 13-5 lead after a Coby Dillon layup with 3:08 to play in the opening quarter. The Eagles also got some tough play from big man Jaylen Walton who scored five points.
But it was the Beckley defense that rattled the Spartans early. Woodrow’s AJ Thomas was everywhere on that side of the ball and made life extremely difficult on the Greenbrier East offense. Whether he was deflecting passes, getting steals, or just harassing a ball handler, Thomas stood out in his role.
After one quarter, Beckley (1-0) led 17-6.
After the Eagles extended their lead to 22-8, the Spartans came to life. Braylen Godfrey hit a couple free throws and then added an old fashioned 3-point play. Nathan Dixon drilled a 3 and Donavin Penn made a tough bucket as part of a 10-2 Spartan run, and they trimmed the deficit to 24-18 with just a few minutes left in the first half.
However, Beckley then used a 10-0 run of their own fueled by Walton and Preston Clary and the Eagles held a commanding 34-18 lead at the break.
Hamric and Reed McCraw each had triples in the third and Dixon put in five points as part of a 13-point quarter for the Spartans (2-2), but Woodrow always seemed to have some sort of answer. Dillon hit two long 3s and Zyon Hawthorne had showed his athletic playmaking ability and after three quarters, Woodrow led 51-31.
The resilience and never-say-die attitude from the Spartans in the fourth quarter was probably the most impressive showing of the night and gives them something to build on over the next week-a-half during their time off. They cut into the Eagles lead and got it down to eight points a couple of times. McCraw hit three 3-pointers in the period and the pressure defense East applied really confused the Eagles and rattled them for several minutes of play.
But Beckley went 9-of-13 from the charity stripe down the stretch including four in a row from Hawthorne and Beckley passed their first test in a hostile environment.
Dixon led the Spartans with 18 points. McCraw scored 14 and Hamric added nine.
For Woodrow Wilson, Walton scored 20 points and Dillon netted 19. Hawthorne added 14 and Clary had 13.
The Spartans get some time to rest and will return to the court in 2025 when they travel to Princeton on Friday, January 3.
