By Mark Robinson
Evan Canterbury puts up a shot in East’s game against Riverside Wednesday night, in Fairlea. East won the contest, 74-66.
The Greenbrier East boys won their game against Riverside Wednesday night, 74-66.
East kept their lead from the beginning of the game until the end, sometimes stretching it out to the teens, but Riverside always had an answer, and kept closing the gap to single digits, as they did at the end. Jacob Clark and T.J. Wood each had 24 points for Riverside, Clark a hard-driving guard and Wood a big man inside who came to life in the second half. Seth Brown led East with 20. East usually played with at least three guards, relying on quick ball movement, some penetration, and their usually reliable outside shooting. Nethaniel Patton scored 18, Cory Beswick 12, and Evan Canterbury 11.
Riverside came in to the game with a record of 4-15.
Coach Jim Justice said afterward, “I thought our kids got after it, shot well tonight. This team wasn’t very happy. They tried every way in the world not to come up here, because they think it’s 5,000 miles to get here. They tried every way in the world to get out of it. They played with a little bit of an attitude, and I’m glad to get out of here with a win. We switched defenses, keep hunting for something that works. We’re not a strong rebounding team. Jasiah is still hurting.”
Justice was presented with an honorary basketball after the game, to mark his 100th win as coach of East’s boys teams.