LEWISBURG (WVDN) – Time just continues to seemingly fly by at rapid speeds, and that is true with everything, including school years. And now, it is almost basketball season.
The Greenbrier East Spartans held their first scrimmages of the season on Saturday, Nov. 19, against Roanoke Catholic and Alleghany County, both from Virginia.
A couple of Spartan players, Adam Seams and Monquelle Davis, had some quick turnarounds to make to be ready on the court. Seams is fresh off an all-state soccer season where he led East to a state title, and Davis comes in from football where he was out with an injury in the last couple games of the season.
I did not get to attend the second scrimmage game, but I did see the first against Roanoke Catholic, and there was plenty of material to digest — the scrimmages were 20 minutes of a continuously running clock.
The Spartans started slow, trailing Roanoke Catholic 11-2 after a 3-pointer, and then a thunderous dunk by Catholic’s Jacob Estrada.
But, from that point, the Spartans came alive and controlled the game. They went on a 13-0 run that was highlighted by a pair of Goose Gabbert 3-pointers, a steal and coast-to-coast finish from Seams, and a basket plus the foul for Gabe Patton.
Estrada then flushed a beautiful, two-handed jam from the baseline, but Seams, Gabbert, Jude Libby, Monquelle Davis and Kaiden Huffman all played well over the final 10 minutes to give the Spartans the 34-20 advantage.
It is easy to tell that second-year coach Jared Patton gives his players a lot of freedom to make plays and allows his players to play their roles to perfection.
Unofficially, Gabbert led the Spartans with 10 points.
It’s a small, sample size, but East looks poised for another good year following last season’s entertaining campaign. At times during the scrimmages, they already looked to be in mid-season form, and they should provide a lot of highlights and memories in 2022.
The Spartans open up their season on Dec. 9 at Musselman.
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