The Greenbrier East Spartans boys team had started to enter danger territory with a three-game losing streak, albeit to really good teams as evidenced by their tough schedule so far. So when the Spartans faced a solid Oak Hill team on Tuesday night to open up the month of February, they desperately needed a win.
And a strong second half got them exactly that.
The Spartans put the Red Devils away late with a 63-48 victory at the Spartan gym in Fairlea.
But things did not start out easy for the home team.
A back-and-forth first quarter saw seven lead changes. Kaiden Huffman and Aaron Griffith scored the first two baskets for East and after a Samuel Crist 3-pointer gave the Red Devils a 5-4 lead, Griffith scored again to put the Spartans back up by one. It continued that way all the way to the end of the period when East’s Bryson Brammer drained a trey to end it with a 12-10 East lead. Brammer scored five points in the quarter.
Adam Seams and Monquelle Davis got in on the act in the second quarter as Seams made a nice driving layup and Davis followed that with a steal and a score.
East lost the lead midway through when Trey Foster hit two straight threes and Crist dropped a floater in the paint. That put Oak Hill up 23-18.
But Goose Gabbert hit a buzzer beating three of his own and the score was tied at halftime, 25-25.
Seams and Gabbert combined for 14 points in the third with the biggest shot a corner 3-pointer from Gabbert to give the Spartans a 45-36 lead.
Davis also played well in the third and the 45-36 lead remained at the end of the quarter.
Oak Hill trimmed the deficit to 45-39 on a Jacob Perdue 3-pointer to open the final period, but East had an answer at every turn. The highlight of the fourth was a beautiful behind-the-back pass from Seams in transition to a wide open Davis who calmly knocked down a long shot from downtown. The crowd went wild and the Spartans celebrated their seventh win of the year (7-7).
Gabbert led East with 15 points. Davis, the Magic’s Computer Repair player of the game, had 13 and played tenacious defense all night. Seams contributed 12 points.
East shot 49 percent for the game.
Crist was the only Red Devil in double figures with 12 points.
The Spartans played the South Charleston Black Eagles on Wednesday, February 2nd. Results of that one will be posted soon.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.