FAIRLEA- When the Winfield Lady Generals came into Spartan Gym on Friday night, Jan. 17, their reputation was a tough, aggressive defensive team that sometimes struggled to score the basketball.
And the final score could not have proved that fact more.
Number 2 Greenbrier East overcame a slow start to defeat Winfield 49-33 in what was their first game back on the hardwood in two weeks.
The Lady Spartans were shorthanded as well as Mackenna McClure is dealing with a knee injury that kept her out of the lineup and was sporting crutches on the sideline.
When the ball finally got tipped off, the rust on the Spartans play was apparent. Winfield’s Emeri Nelson opened things up by hitting a 3 and then a couple possessions later she made two free throws for an early 5-3 Generals lead.
The Spartans struggled to get much going offensively but was saved by the play of junior center Hannah Fuller who helped keep it close. Fuller scored in a variety of ways in the quarter including a jumper, an offensive rebound putback and a free throw.
After one, East trailed 12-7.
Fuller scored first in the second period and the Spartans eventually took the lead on a Liz Wooding jumper and an Ava Workman steal and score. That capped an 8-0 run and forced the Generals to call a quick timeout.
After Winfield (6-6) played it close over the next several minutes, the Spartans closed the half on a 7-0 run fueled by five points from Kennedy Stewart and a buzzer beating bucket from Wooding.
At the break, the Spartans led 22-15.
East (11-0) began to extend the lead a little in the third, but Winfield’s Brooklyn Cole and Gabriella Canterbury did their part to keep the Generals on pace. Two Stewart freebies and an Alexis Stack jumper closed out the third and gave East a 35-22 advantage.
Winfield would get no closer than within 11 points in the final period as East finally put enough feet on the gas pedal to pull away. Workman went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to help the Spartans notch their 11th straight victory.
Fuller led the Spartans with a game-high 14 points and five rebounds. Workman had 11 Stewart added 10 for East.
For the Generals, Canterbury paced them with 10 points.
East is right back in action on Saturday afternoon, Jan. 18 when they host Shady Spring at 4:00 PM. That is the only game of the day in the gym.
