FAIRLEA- On Saturday, Feb. 8 the Greenbrier East Spartans played a matinee basketball game and defeated Lewis County 84-65 for a nice bounce back effort after a loss to Class AAA #3 shady Spring the night before.
Following a foul plagued first quarter, it appeared the officials were going to play a big part in the outcome.
Enter Nathan Dixon.
Dixon, who had scored nine points in that first quarter, erupted halfway through the second. Whether he was hitting a 3 from the outside or getting to the basket, Dixon took the game over and honestly, put it out of reach. He scored 18 points in the second period alone and put up 27 points in the first half as the Spartans held a 53-33 lead at the break.
In the second half, Dixon passed the torch to Brody Hamric who put up 10 points in the third including a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. The Minutemen from Lewis County trimmed the deficit to 15 a couple times in the second half, but Greenbrier East always had an answer.
Dixon led the Spartans with a game-high 32 points. Hamric got 12. For Lewis County, their 6’6″ big man Ben Putnam scored 18.
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The Lady Spartans finished off the nightcap with an impressive 62-40 victory over the Independence Lady Patriots.
East started a little sluggish, but it did not take them long to get going once they picked up their intensity. They jumped out to a 20-2 lead and were shutting down the Patriots’ star Harmony Mills, who just went over the 1,000-point mark for her career recently.
Other than Kennedy Stewart leading the team with 17 points and Ava Workman putting in 14 to lead the Spartans, the bigger story of the evening was the play of Mackenna McClure.
McClure, who has been sidelined the last few weeks with a knee injury, was shockingly put into the game in the third quarter and she did not think it was even real at the time.
“I honestly thought he (Coach Jim Justice) was joking,” she said with a laugh.
“No one would be prepared in that moment.”
With the Spartans ranked no. 2 in Class AAA, McClure said it has been tough just watching every game like a fan rather than being on the court.
“It’s been hard. I’m used to being in the action and playing with my teammates,” McClure explained.
The junior finished the game with five points and an assist. She is scheduled to have surgery soon in Morgantown, which is suspected to end her season, but stranger things have happened.
The Lady Spartans will be back home this Saturday against Logan for their next outing unless any make up games get scheduled through the week.
Quotes courtesy of 93.3, WRON.
