FAIRLEA- This time of year in high school basketball, the theme is survive and advance.
Or in the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans case, dominate and move forward.
The Lady Spartans started quickly, kept their foot on the gas pedal, and never let up en route to an easy 89-44 win over the Independence Lady Patriots in the opening round of the regional tournament.
The Spartans placed five players in double figures and hit 16 total 3s on the night.
Hannah Fuller got things going early and was basically unstoppable on the inside. She finished the first quarter with nine points. Ava Workman matched Fuller with nine points and Jada Waller, who played a great game, hit two treys and scored eight in the period. Throw in Sandy Benton’s two shots from downtown and the Spartans were in complete control early and led 34-6 after one.
East built the halftime lead to 51-17 as they pressured the Patriots into submission. Indy’s two stars, Harmony Mills and Lacey Goodson, were being watched closely on the defensive end. Goodson did score nine first half points, but Mills was held to just four.
East backed off of their pressure defense a little in the second half, but they stayed in complete control of the contest. By the fourth quarter, both teams emptied their benches and got a handful of JV players some regional action.
Tianna Brigman hit a 3 for East and Emma Palmer converted a nice bucket near the end of regulation as well.
Workman led East with 18 points and Fuller scored 15. Waller and Kennedy Stewart added 14 and Sandy Banton knocked in four 3-pointers for 12 points.
Mills finished with 15 points for the Patriots and Goodson had 14.
With the win, Greenbrier East moves to 22-1 and will face Nicholas County in a Regional contest this Thursday, March 6 with a state tournament berth on the line.
Tipoff for that one will be 7:00 PM.
