Gators fall behind early, lose to Devils

By Steve Roush
Published in Sports on December 21, 2005 2:02 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- Spring Creek boy's and girl's basketball teams both fell behind by nine points after one quarter and neither recovered as both squads fall to visiting South Lenoir on Tuesday night.

The Gator boys suffered their sixth-consecutive loss of the season 65-55 and the Lady Gators faded at the end of the game in a 61-38 loss to South Lenoir.

In the boys game, Spring Creek tried to work the ball inside, but managed only three baskets in the first quarter.

"In order to win conference games, you cannot depend on the 3-point shot," Spring Creek coach Sonny Kilpatrick said. "We have been shooting 35 threes a game and I wanted to work the ball inside."

South Lenoir had six different players score in the pivotal first quarter. The Devils opened the game in a tight man-to-man defense and Spring Creek was unable to get the ball inside for easy shots.

The Gators did rally in the second quarter as Dalreese Bell came off the bench and buried two 3-point shots, including one at the buzzer to pull Spring Creek to within three points at halftime.

South Lenoir surged ahead again by 10 in the third quarter, only to see Bell hit a 40-foot shot as the third quarter ended

The game was physical and foul trouble mounted as the Gators desperately tried to close the gap in the fourth quarter. Spring Creek lost Cliff Wilson and Daniel Chewning to fouls in the games closing minutes.

"They just outplayed us," said Kilpatrick. "I don't mind getting beat by a good basketball team and they have a good team."

Bell scored 19 points to lead the Gators and Chewning and Wilson tallied 16 and 14 each, respectively.

In the girls game, the Gators outscored the Devils 13-8 in the third quarter and only trailed the Devils by seven points as the fourth quarter began. Brittani Billups scored six of her team-leading 15 points in the third quarter.

The Spring Creek girls were within striking distance until 12 fourth-quarter turnovers allowed South Lenoir to break open the game in the final three minutes.

Spring Creek could not take advantage of numerous trips to the foul line and only converted 12-of-30 foul shots while South Lenoir made 19-of-26 charity tosses.

"We stayed with them basically until the fourth quarter. We did not have a good shooting night, and when we do, we usually have a good game," Spring Creek girls coach Mandy Ramfjord said.

Billups cleared 11 rebounds for the Gators in addition to her 15 points. Shaquita Brooks added the only two 3-point baskets for Spring Creek

South Lenoir was led in scoring by guard Jess King's 22 points, which included a deadly 14-of-16 from the foul line. Karessa Herring added 21 points for the Devil girls.

The Spring Creek girls and boys teams will compete in the North Lenoir holiday tournament next week.

Girls

South Lenoir 19 10 8 24 -- 61

Spring Creek 10 7 13 8 -- 38

SOUTH LENOIR (2-7)

Jess King; 4 0 14-16 22; Karessa Herring 7 1 4-5 21; Kasha Snow 0 0 1-2 1; Sarah Pike 2 0 0-0 4; Ashton Hardiston; 0 1 0-0 3; Kasie Jones 1 0 0-0 2; Shae Garner 4 0 0-3 8. Totals -- 18 2 19-26 61.

SPRING CREEK (1-10)

Sarah Parks 0 0 3-6 3; Shaquita Brooks 0 2 0-0 6; Tomeka Pride 1 0 1-7 3; Margo Sauter 0 0 3-6 3; Anner Potter 2 0 0-0 4; Brittani Bilups 5 0 5-9 15; Tasha Whitfield 1 0 0-0 2; Barbara Witherinson 1 0 0-2 2. Totals -- 10 2 12-30 38.

Three-point baskets - South Lenoir 2 (Hardison, Herring), Spring Creek 2 (Brooks 2). Total fouls - South Lenoir 20, Spring Creek 20. Turnovers - South Lenoir 25, Spring Creek 36 fouled out - Spring Creek (Potter). Technical fouls - none.

Boys

South Lenoir 17 15 16 17 -- 65

Spring Creek 8 21 9 17 -- 55

SOUTH LENOIR (6-3)

Carel Rogers 5 0 2-2 12; Jared Barwick 2 2 2-4 12; Joseph Skinner 1 0 3-4 5; Scott Brown 1 0 0-0 2; Brandon Rouse 4 0 8-11 16; Quan Outlaw 2 0 2-6 6; Eddie Collie 2 0 2-2 6; Alex Graham 2 0 2-4 6. Totals -- 19 2 21-33 65.

SPRING CREEK (4-7)

Cliff Wilson 4 1 3-5 14; Daniel Chewning 3 1 7-9 16; Dalfeese Bell 2 4 3-6 19; Josh Wright 2 0 0-0 4; Desmund Raeford 1 0 0-1 2. Totals -- 12 6 13-21 55.

Three-point baskets - South Lenoir 2 (Barwick 2) Spring Creek 6, (Bell 4, Wilson, Chewning) Total fouls - South Lenoir 20, Spring Creek 24. Turnovers - South Lenoir 17, Spring Creek 16. Fouled out - Spring Creek (Wilson, Chewning). Technical fouls - none.