After a first half where it looked like the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans were going to run away with an easy victory over the Princeton Tigers, things became not so easy anymore when the Tigers refused to quit.
However, the Spartans were able to hold on for an impressive 66-57 win on Tuesday, March 16 at the Spartan gym in Fairlea.
The win gives East their second one in a row in a week that is chock-full of games almost every night.
Layla Pence got the Spartans started when she grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back in and Allie Dunford’s jumper was sandwiched around two Cadence Stewart 3-pointers, and the Spartans jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead.
Four consecutive free throws late in the period by Stewart put East up 16-2 and the quarter was capped with beautiful inbound pass to Brookelyn Morgan who scored at the buzzer.
The Spartans (4-3) led 18-4 after the first quarter.
Stewart drove the baseline for a reverse layup to open the second period and Pence knocked in a short jumper as East was cruising with a 22-6 advantage.
Stewart then converted a three-point play, Taylor Boswell drilled a trey and Brooke Davis turned defense to offense for four straight points and East led 31-10 at that point.
That is when the tide turned.
Princeton (2-3) cut the lead at the break to 33-20 after a quick 10-2 run to end the first half.
When they came out of the locker room, the Tigers played like they never took a breather as they picked right up where they left off. Saddie Boggess had a coast-to-coast layup, Lauren Parrish scored underneath, Laken Dye stole the inbounds pass for an easy bucket and Kalyn Davis hit two straight 3-pointers and in the blink of an eye, the Tigers were on a 21-0 run and led by a point, 34-33.
With the crowd and the East announcers in total shock, Josie Patterson broke the run with a pair of free throws to put the Spartans back on top.
Later in the quarter, a technical foul on Kailey Sarver gave East two free points and Stewart hit a trifecta on the final possession for a 48-43 Spartan lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Parrish had an old-fashioned three-point play that made the score 54-53, Spartans with about four minutes to go.
But the Spartans stuck together and showed resiliency down the stretch. Stewart scored, Morgan hit a huge three, and Davis and Dunford each scored back-to-back buckets as East held on for the gutsy win.
Stewart led East with 26 points. Davis was tremendous with 13 points, seven rebounds, seven steals and four blocks.
Parrish led the Tigers with 18 points.
East got a rare day off on Wednesday and will return home Thursday, March 18 to play Mercer Christian.
Stats courtesy of Oldies 93.3
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.