The Shadow
You can’t teach height and length.
The Greenbrier East Spartans have their share of both.
Sophomore Bailee Coles scored a game-high 16 points, while Cory Beswick added 15 Tuesday night, pacing the Spartans to a 54-44 win over Alleghany.
East, coached by former Virginia Tech star, Olympian and NBA standout Bimbo Coles, improved to 8-5 with the win, while the Mountaineers fell to 4-10 on the season.
The Mountaineers were held to three single-digit quarters and shot just 28 percent from the floor. They were also challenged all night by the imposing 6-foot-6 pair of Rahzell Godfrey and Justin Davis. Godfrey didn’t score a point, but he pulled down 10 rebounds.
“Tonight was another tough matchup with their size and length,”?Alleghany coach Nolan Caldwell assessed. “We had some decent looks early, but they wouldn’t go down.
“All night long, whether it was a shot attempt or a pass, their size and length gave us problems,”?he added.
The Spartans led 12-6 early, but a 3-point banker at the first quarter horn by Chase Nicely halved the Alleghany deficit to 12-9 after one.
On three occasions in the second quarter the Mountaineers cut their deficit to one. A Jayson Easton bucket whittled the East lead to 19-18, but a free throw by Peyton Pack and a Coles basket gave the visitors a 22-18 halftime lead.
Chris Tingler scored on an Easton assist to open the third quarter and cut the Spartan lead to 22-20, but Greenbrier East responded with a 13-2 run.
Clay Jackson’s 3-pointer capped the spurt and gave the Spartans a 35-22 lead.
East still led 39-27 early in the fourth, but the Mountaineers again made a run at the Spartans. It started with a Devin Lane free throw and continued with seven straight Easton points that shaved the East lead to 39-35.
A?Christian Allen basket a little later cut the Alleghany deficit to 42-37, but back-to-back threes by Beswick and Coles ended any thoughts of another Alleghany comeback and gave the Spartans a 48-37 lead.
Easton paced the Mountaineers with 14 points, while Wright scored eight. Allen pulled down a dozen boards for Alleghany, while Lane had six.
The Mountaineers return to Three Rivers District play tonight when they entertain the Glenvar Highlanders.
“We’ve just got to move forward,”?Caldwell said. “We’ve got a good district foe in Glenvar coming in (tonight). It will be another tough game.”
Brandon Oscar scored 11 points in Tuesday’s preliminary, leading East to a come-from-behind 38-32 JV victory.
Baron Leitch had 11 points for the Mountaineers, while Andrew Middleton scored nine. Matt Warren with six, Antwan Broadnax with four and Alexandre Taylor with two rounded out the Alleghany scoring.
