The Greenbrier East Spartans boys’ basketball team drew a large crowd for their season opener against the Bluefield Beavers on Friday, December 10 in new head coach Jared Patton’s debut. Unfortunately, for Patton and the Spartans, they suffered a tough, hard-to-swallow 59-52 loss.
The Spartans then traveled to Salem, Virginia at Roanoke College and faced the Roanoke Catholic Celtics the very next night, and lost a hard-fought battle, 70-53. The Celtics had a distinct size advantage that eventually set the tone and ended that one late in the contest.
Against the Beavers, East got off to a slow start. After a charging call on Goose Gabbert, Bluefield went on a quick 6-0 run and extended their lead to 12-5 with 3:04 left in the opening quarter. Then, a 6-1 run fueled by the Beavers’ RJ Hairston put the Spartans down 18-6 at the end of the first quarter.
“We came out flat and tight for our first game,” coach Patton stated.
The second period was a totally different story as each team seemed to mirror the other from the prior quarter.
Aaron Griffith scored a layup, then Adam Seams followed with a jumper. Seams then grabbed a rebound, went coast-to-coast and cut the Spartan deficit to 18-12.
The Spartans switched their defense to more of a zone look as well to slow down Bluefield star point guard, Jaeon Flack and that plan worked to perfection.
“We dug ourselves a hole that took the whole first half to dig out of. I thought our kids settled in and started playing better ball as the game went on,” Patton said.
A Gabbert 3-pointer with 1:10 left in the first half cut the Bluefield advantage to 23-18 and Gabe Patton followed that up with another trifecta on the ensuing Spartans possession. Seams nailed two free throws to end the half as the Spartans trailed by just one point, 25-24 at halftime.
However, the third quarter looked too much like the first one did for the Spartans. Gabbert hit a three to open the second half scoring, but Flack took over from that point for most of the quarter.
Flack answered with a three of his own, then found Chase Johnson on the next Beaver trip down the floor for a wide-open layup. Flack racked up four more assists in the quarter to keep his team in front, but East never truly went away. Another Gabbert three, two free throws from Bryson Brammar and a couple buckets from Seams kept the Spartans within striking distance as they trailed just 42-38 heading into the final quarter.
The issue for the Spartans was too many missed layups and free throws in the second half that halted their momentum each time they seemed to be getting some. East went just 3-for-9 from the charity stripe in the final quarter which doomed them in the end. They cut the deficit to 53-52 with 1:18 left, but a 6-0 Bluefield run to end the game put the nail in the East coffin.
“If we would have made a few more foul shots and finished stronger at the rim, it would have been a different outcome,” said Patton.
The Spartans shot just 13-of-27 from the free throw line for the game.
Seams led them with 13 points and Gabbert added 11.
Hairston led the Beavers with 16 points. Flack had 14 and Fuller contributed 12.
East played the Celtics tough in Virginia on Saturday, but as previously mentioned, Roanoke Catholic had a distinct size advantage and was already playing their eighth game of the season, so they were basically a mid-season form team already. Where the Spartans are scrappier and will pressure the ball fiercely, the Celtics use their length and size to score over top of defenses. Gavin Burns was RC’s biggest player and stood 6-foot-9 while they boasted two more guys in the 6-foot-5 range.
The Spartans hung in until the final few minutes when the depth of the Celtics and some of their shot makers stepped up when they needed to.
And according to Patton, they were a good team, but he was also extremely proud of his.
“Coach Good has a solid team. We hung in with them the majority of the game, but they just hit a few more shots than us coming down the stretch, coach Patton said.
I thought our kids played better today than yesterday (Bluefield) which is a positive.
Matt Collins and Josiah Banks are two of the players the East coach was referring to hitting big shots. Collins hit a big 3-pointer and scored a couple more times late, while Banks and Jacob Estrada controlled the inside en route to their victory.
“We started the game better, rebounded better and our offensive adjustments were on point,” Patton said.
The team enjoyed playing at Roanoke College. They have first class facilities,” he concluded.
Aaron Griffith took home the player-of-the game honors after finishing with 10 points. Banks, Collins and Estrada all had 14 apiece for the Celtics.
East will return to action this Wednesday, December 15 when they travel to Pikeview.
Stats courtesy of 103.1, WRON.
