Spring Creek drops Princeton boys
By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 28, 2012 11:11 PM
SEVEN SPRINGS -- We got you ... again.
And we got the regular-season sweep, too.
Adam Haggerty swished two free throws with 33.7 seconds remaining, and stubborn Spring Creek nipped Princeton, 50-49, before a standing-room-only crowd at "The Swamp" on Friday evening.
Haggerty and frontcourt mate Rashawn Edwards shared game-high scoring honors with 17 points apiece for the Gators, who halted a four-game skid in Carolina 1-A Conference play. As expected, the duo felt the Dogs constantly nipping at their heels in a triangle-and-two scheme throughout the game.
"Obviously, everybody knows now about Adam and Rashawn, and everybody is going to do everything they can to center (a defense) around them," said Spring Creek head coach Taylor Jones. "More importantly, our guards, who are a little inexperienced and we've struggled with some this year, handled the game with a lot of poise tonight.
"We were a little stubborn. We said we're not going to take a quick shot, we're going to get our shot. I was pleased with how well we kept our patience."
Haggerty shook up the Bulldogs' composure just before halftime.
CJ Jeffreys' back-to-back 3-pointers ignited an 8-0 run and gave Princeton a 21-13 advantage with 5:13 remaining in the second quarter. Haggerty answered with eight points, including draining a step-back 3-pointer with a Princeton defender draped all over him.
Spring Creek trailed 25-22 at the break.
Edwards took over in the second half. The sleek forward constantly slashed to the basket on the baseline and kept the Gators within striking distance after three quarters of play. His offensive putback gave Spring Creek a 40-39 lead early in the fourth.
"It's a frustrating defense and he battled," said PHS head coach Jeff Davis of Haggerty. "We don't match up well with them because they're (Haggerty, Edwards) are so big, and they can get out on the perimeter quick. Our big men have trouble denying the ball and our little guys have trouble with them in the post."
The teams traded ties at 42, 44, 46 and 48 over the next four minutes.
Dalvin Stancil's free throw after a Spring Creek turnover pushed the Dawgs ahead 49-48 with 1:23 to go. Each team turned the ball over on its next possession before Haggerty got fouled on a drive inside, and buried his game-winning free throws.
Princeton had two chances to win the game, but couldn't convert in the final 33.7 seconds.
"We got that one-point lead, got the ball up the court and all we had to do was pull it out and make them foul us," said Davis. "We may have still lost, but that's the situation we wanted to be in and we messed it up tonight."