CHARCMO – One day after shaking off the rust from a 28-day layoff and earning a win in the home-opener, Greenbrier West was dealt a setback with a 74-50 loss to Independence. The two teams battled to two early ties in the first quarter, but the Patriots closed out the frame with an 11-0 run to stake itself to a 22-11 lead on the heels of three three-pointers from junior forward Sylas Nelson. Independence would never look back.
The Cavaliers scoring malaise continued into the second quarter as the Patriots increased their lead to 28-13 before the Cavaliers mustered a little scoring. Randy Keener knocked down a short-range turnaround jumper and went 3-3 from the foul line to put up five points for Greenbrier West. Freshman Brock Green countered with eight points and the Patriots outscored West 17-12 to build a 39-23 halftime lead.
Six Cavaliers got in the scoring column in the third quarter, helping West outscore Independence 16-15. Kamden Sams drilled a three-pointer and went 2-2 from the foul line for five points. Aiden Crane drained a three-pointer as well, but Nelson remained hot for the Patriots with a 6-6 effort from the free throw line. Nelson collected eight points in the quarter.
Inconsistent officiating and cheap foul calls seemed to haunt the Cavaliers, especially Colton Dunbar. After being tagged with his second personal foul early in the first quarter on a 50/50 collision, Dunbar received his third foul at the 5:50 mark of the second quarter. Without Dunbar’s presence in the middle, West found it difficult to control the boards against the big bodies of Green and Reid Warden. Dunbar was hit with two additional fouls early in the third quarter, ending his night at the 5:08 mark of the third quarter. It was a bitter pill for the Cavaliers to swallow in a physical matchup.
Nelson kept the pressure on Greenbrier West in the fourth quarter with six points, ending his night with a game-high 27 points. The Patriots also got three-pointers from Brady Rose and Hunter Moore and outscored the Cavaliers 20-11 in the final frame. Carter Vandall knocked down a three for Greenbrier West to go along with buckets from Asher Barclay, Shane Plogger, Dakota McKinney, and Ben McDaniel.
Greenbrier West drops to 2-3 on the season and will host Summers County Friday night in Charmco. Independence improved to 2-3 and travels to Princeton Friday night.
INDY – 22 17 15 20 – 74
GW – 11 12 16 11 – 50
Scoring – (INDY) Nelson 27, Green 18, Arthur 10, Rose 7, Moore 5, Riddle 3, Ritchie 2.
(GW) Sams 11, Barclay 8, Aiden Crane 6, Keener 5, Vandall 5, Isaac Crane 4, Plogger 4, McKinney 3, Dunbar 2, McDaniel 2.
