With the regular season quickly winding down, the Greenbrier East Lady Spartans are in the midst of a busy week to get to that point.
On Wednesday, April 7 the Spartans went to Lindside and had a tough battle with the James Monroe Lady Mavericks, but when the clock struck all zeroes, East walked away with the victory, 61-49.
The win gave the Spartans (10-5) the regular-season sweep of the Mavericks after a 53-45 win earlier in the season.
Both teams went back and forth early on as Allie Dunford started the scoring with a short floater in the lane. After the Mavs Akayla Hughes answered with a basket, Layla Pence hit a short jumper and then Brooke Davis stole the inbounds pass, drove to the hoop for a score plus a foul.
But James Monroe stayed the course. Hailey Hunnicutt scored after grabbing an offensive rebound, Hughes hit a right-wing 3-pointer then Hunnicutt got a steal and score, and James Monroe led 9-6 at that point.
Fast forward to the second quarter with the Mavericks leading 17-14 until Kenna Sheppard hit a long three to tie up the score. Cadence Stewart then hit about a 27-footer from the top of the key and the Spartans retook the lead.
Sheppard and Stewart would both drain another three-pointer later in the quarter as East led 30-22.
A technical foul on Davis gave the Mavs a little life as they used it to fuel a 6-0 run, but little Marley Patterson swished a trifecta right as the buzzer sounded and East took a 33-28 lead into halftime.
East finally started to pull away in the second half and the third quarter is where it began. They used a 12-2 run to open the half that included a couple of three-pointers from Davis and some good play from Dunford, Pence and Brookelyn Morgan. Hunnicutt and Hughes each both played well for James Monroe, but the Spartans led 50-39 after three.
East’s defense was suffocating in the fourth period as the Mavs only points were by free throws until late. Then, with the Spartans leading 58-45 with just under two minutes to play, Aubrey Glover hit a long trey that put the game out of reach for James Monroe and put a “W” into the win column for the Spartans.
Davis played an exceptional game and finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and eight steals. Stewart had 14 points and East forced 24 James Monroe turnovers.
The Mavs were led by Hunnicutt who scored a game-high 20 points. Hughes added 12 points.
Stats courtesy of oldies 93.3.
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