Spring Creek’s Vanessa Duruttya comes up with a loose ball while teammate Trinity Daniels, left, assists from behind during their game against Jones Senior Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Spring Creek’s Sarah Kirby dives for a loose ball while teammates Emily Williams (1), Vanessa Duruttya (34) and Natalie Jackson (3) watch Tuesday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
Spring Creek junior Trinity Daniels (12) drives to the basket against a Jones Senior defender Tuesday evening. Daniels recorded a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) during the Gators’ 44-23 victory. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
SEVEN SPRINGS — The all-around effort paid dividends. Spring Creek’s varsity girls executed on both ends of the hardwood and stepped into the win column with a 44-23, non-conference shellacking of Jones Senior Tuesday evening.
The Gators bounced back from a disappointing, season-opening loss.
“[We] moved the ball better than we did the first game,” SC head coach Paul Hayes said. “We emphasized that in practice and we moved the ball to get better shots, instead of the first look, let’s look for the second one.
“On the defensive end, that’s where we make our money. We work hard for the most part, talk. We’ve got some new girls on the team and we’re still learning how to mesh with each other.”
Spring Creek (1-1 overall) plodded its way to an 11-3 lead after one quarter. The Gators cranked up the defensive pressure, forced some turnovers and extended their advantage to 23-8 by halftime.
The Trojans (1-2) didn’t reach double figures until midway through the third quarter.
Hayes’ team picked Jones Senior for 18 steals.
Newcomer Trinity Daniels logged her second straight double-double. The junior transfer from Charles B. Aycock stuffed her stat sheet with 16 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots.
Freshman Aaliyah Kornegay contributed seven points and eight rebounds.
“Trinity has been a very good surprise, vocal leader,” Hayes said. “She’s come in and has meshed with the girls. They’re still learning to play with each other, but she’s high-spirited [with] high energy, rebounds and does the dirty work.
“Aaliyah lacks a little confidence right now, but every game, she’s getting better. It’s a little nerve-wracking as a freshman coming in and playing, but she does the dirty work, too.”
Returning point guard Emily Williams collected seven points, eight assists, seven steals and three rebounds. Junior center Heather Alexander just missed a double-double with eight points and 13 rebounds. Vanessa Duruttya tallied six points on two 3-pointers, while Natalie Jackson snared seven rebounds.
Spring Creek extended its win streak to six over Jones Senior. The teams meet again Nov. 27 in Trenton.
“It’s just good to get one [a win],” Hayes said.
