HS Boys Basketball: Greenbrier East answers the bell to beat Shady Spring
The No. 8 Spartans rally from a 10-point first half deficit to knock off the No. 4 Tigers in Fairlea
Friday night was not exactly a must win in regards to the postseason for Greenbrier East when it welcomed Shady Spring inside Spartan Gym.
The No. 8-ranked Spartans however, used that as motivation to knock of regional rival and No. 4-ranked Shady Spring, 61-57.
"Coming into this game, having (already) lost (at) Princeton, we thought it was a must win. We don't really go over that with the players, but they know," Greenbrier East head coach Jared Patton explained. "I don't hype up any game we play, I just say it's us against whoever is out there. I am more worried about what we do that what they do. That is how we approach these big games."
The visitors made the first move taking an 8-2 lead that was 15-12 after the first period of action.
A quick 7-2 burst by the Spartans gave them a 19-17 lead before Shady Spring ran off nine straight points, including seven from Coby Dillon, for a 26-19 advantage.
A pair of free throws by Brody Hamric broke the run, but the Tigers kept the pedal to the metal.
Two buckets from Gabe Short and a charity toss from Dillon made it a 10-point Shady Spring lead with just over three minutes to play in the half.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, they could not hold the lead as the Spartans closed on 5-0 run to grab the momentum headed to the locker room.
A steal and a layup from Darius Burns and a key stick-back from Hamric keyed the burst for the home squad.
The two titans traded baskets to open the second half, but Greenbrier East continued to inch its way back towards the lead.
Twice the Spartans battled within two points, only to see Shady stop the run and hold a 45-41 lead after three quarters.
The final period however, belonged to the home team led by Burns and senior Nate Dixon.
"Both of them stepped up. It is one of those where you are just waiting and the patience has to be there for any of our guys. Darius and Nate did a fantastic job tonight," Patton said. "We ran some different sets coming down the stretch and we found one that looked pretty good, so (we) just kept running it. It worked in our favor, so I'm very thankful."
Dixon opened the fourth period with a 3-pointer, sending a huge roar across Spartan Gym.
Cutter Boggs answered with a pair of free throws for the Tigers ahead of an off-balance, corner jumper from Dixon.
Eli Sexton nailed a 3-pointer to push Shady's lead back to four points at 50-46, but Greenbrier East was undaunted and came storming back.
A runner from Burns and a Hamric score in the lane off glass tied the lead for the first time since it was 19-19 in the second quarter,
The two rivals then traded scores before Greenbrier East grabbed the lead for good on a triple from Burns with 3:55 to play in the game.
A baseline jumper from Sam Hawver gave the Spartans a five-point lead prior to Dillon knocking in a 3-pointer to trim the deficit back to 59-57.
Shady Spring, however, could get no closer.
"Shady struck first, they won the first quarter (and the) second and I think we won the third. We put ourselves in a hole," Patton said. "I think we shot 8-for-18 from the foul line, which is not us and we missed 13 layups in the first half. Totally different game if we were just finishing."
Dixon ended the night with 20 points, including eight in the final period, while Burns tallied 11 with seven coming in the final eight minutes of play. Hamric added 17 points for Greenbrier East,
Dillon led all scorers with 24 points. Short had 19 and Sexton scored 14 points.
The two teams will meet again at Shady Spring on Feb. 6.
SS: 15 16 14 12 - 57
GE: 12 14 15 20 - 61
Shady Spring head coach Ronnie Olson talked the about the battle with Greenbrier East.
