FAIRLEA- In their first game as the co-number 1 ranked team in Class AAA, the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans proved that ranking is more than deserving.
After a sluggish first quarter, East put together a balanced effort on both ends of the floor and defeated the Princeton Tigers 58-29 on what was a cold and windy night outside the friendly indoor confines of the Spartan Gym in Fairlea.
The Lady Spartans (10-0) got out to a 12-6 lead after the first quarter thanks to scoring from Hannah Fuller and Mackenna McClure and good passing from Jada Waller.
But in the second quarter, Greenbrier East doubled that output while not relinquishing any effort on the defensive end of the floor.
Kennedy Stewart came to life after a scoreless first period and scored 10 in the second. Also, Fuller owned the inside of the paint with rebounding and scoring as East built a 36-12 lead at halftime.
The second half was almost identical to the first.
The Tigers struggled to get any kind of offensive flow the entire night. Ava Workman played well in the second half and off the bench, Kala Waller gave head coach Jim Justice some good minutes with five points and two rebounds.
Stewart led the Spartans with 17 points, but McClure’s all-around effort of eight points, 12 rebounds, and five assists earned her player of the game honors. Fuller added 11 points and four rebounds.
The girls get a week off before heading to Summersville next Friday night, Jan. 10 to take on the Nicholas County Lady Grizzlies.
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PRINCETON- On the boys’ side, the Spartans got revenge on the Princeton Tigers after Princeton has owned them on the football field for the last couple of seasons. Daniel Jennings and Brad Mossor, two highly touted Tiger players on the gridiron finally got to experience a loss to the Spartans in some capacity on Friday.
The Spartans trailed by double-digits early and battled back to tie the game at 36-all at halftime.
But it was the second half where the Spartans may have turned the corner on this season and in this new year of 2025.
They outscored Princeton–who had not lost yet this season– 43-24 in the third and fourth quarters and got good play from Brody Hamric, Layne Lambert, and Reed McCraw, among others, and some long-distance shooting from Nathan Dixon. At one point early in the third and with score 41-39 Tigers, Dixon scored eight points in a row–an offensive rebound putback and two 3s– to extend the East lead to 47-39 and they never looked back again.
East moves to 3-2 on the young season and plays in the New River CTC Classic this Tuesday night against Nicholas County at the Raleigh County Armory and Convention Center.
