By Mark Robinson
The Greenbrier East girls basketball team defeated Jefferson High School Friday, Jan. 27, by a score of 67-41. East took a quick 10-0 lead, and was ahead 20-7 at the end of the first quarter. From that point on, the outcome was certain; it was just a matter of playing the minutes. Substitutes saw extensive action.
Jefferson’s players showed skill in moving the ball and breaking the press. Their defensive movement was good; they covered well and had a hand up on most balls shot. Most of their problem was a simple inability to put the ball in the basket. Shot after shot rolled off the rim, or missed it altogether.
East, on the other hand, was its usual accurate self, hitting a variety of inside shots and outside shots.
Before the game, Jefferson coach Chris Custer said, “We are 5-10. We are a AAA school. Keep an eye on no. 32, she’s probably the best player, then everybody else is the same. We’re very young, a lot of freshmen and sophomores. We’re better when we play on the run. We’ll try, see how it goes.”
After the game was over, he commented, “It’s kind of what we expected. They have a nice team, we’re young. We hustled to the end. It’s about what we thought it would be, their experience against our youth. The only thing we control is how hard we play, and our attitude.”
East player Abbie Bartenslager said, “It was a good game. We came together as a team. We battled hard. We rebounded well, and we got our heads up and looked for each other. Good passing. At halftime, Coach told us to try to get 70 points. We were a few points short, but we were close.”
Kate Perkins noted, “We passed the ball well. Our defense could have been better. Could have played better help-side-man. When that happens it leaves somebody open. We shot the ball pretty well. Rebounded a lot.”
East coach Jim Justice said, “They’re getting more aggressive on defense, moving the ball really well. We have a different dimension now with Taylor Dunbar. She gave us a nice game tonight. We moved to that down in Bluefield. We needed two taller girls in the game. We saw something down there that was neat. She’ll help on defense and on offense. She’s a good defensive player. She’ll get some blocks. She’ll get some nice rebounds. And she had five points.”
Both of East’s teams are in the Big Atlantic tournament in Beckley this week, playing Thurs.-Fri.-Sat.