The Greenbrier East Lady Spartans traveled to Beckley on April 6 for a Tuesday night bout with the Woodrow Wilson Flying Eagles (WW).
East battled, hustled and fought, but in the end, it was Beckley coming out on top with a 66-47 win.
The two teams are still remembered for the altercation last season before the pandemic when some fans got into an argument and the Beckley coaches and players followed suit. The bad blood between the two programs will not go away anytime soon, but in this contest, it was Beckley doing the celebrating.
East got off to a slow start, but the same could not be said for the Eagles. Jamara Walton and Camille Fenton put WW up 4-0 east and then a steal and score by Chloe Frantz made it 6-0 just a couple of minutes in.
The Spartans (9-5) would answer when Janacia Garrett hit a jumper followed by an Allie Dunford steal and bucket, but two straight baskets by Fenton extended the Eagles lead to 10-4.
With East down 10 a couple of minutes later, Cadence Stewart hit two consecutive right-wing 3-pointers to cut the deficit to just four with 2:05 left in the opening quarter.
But Fenton scored again and Keanti Thompson hit a three to close out the first period with Beckley leading 19-12.
Stewart tried to keep the Spartans within striking distance and she did for a bit when she hit a couple of treys in the second, but Thompson, Lataja Creasy and Bella Staples all played well for Woodrow in the quarter and the Eagles (9-4) held a 41-25 advantage at the break.
Dunford pulled East to 41-28 after a three to open the second half, Frantz and Olivia Zoljowski were too strong on the wing and underneath, respectively. Frantz scored six points in the quarter.
The Spartans got as close as 12 points in the final quarter, but a dagger 3-pointer by Creasy that made the score 64-47 with just under two minutes left was the final nail in the Spartans coffin.
East had 19 turnovers and shot just 31% from the field. Woodrow, a team that will contend in the state tourney, had just 11 turnovers and shot 27%.
Stewart led East with 26 points.
Fenton led Woodrow with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Frantz had 13 points and nine rebounds and Walton put up 11 points and 14 boards.
Stats courtesy of oldies, 93.3
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