Spring Creek boys drop season-opener to Jones Senior

By Andrew Stevens
Published in Sports on November 28, 2012 1:48 PM

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SEVEN SPRINGS -- If Taylor Jones can get the type of effort his team turned in on Tuesday night on a consistent basis, Spring Creek should just be fine by the time Carolina 1-A Conference play rolls around.

The Gators cut a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit to two and had a chance to tie the game in the closing seconds of a 66-64, season-opening loss to Jones Senior.

Missed shots from within the paint and costly turnovers left Spring Creek down 64-50 midway through the fourth quarter. The Gators began executing more effectively in their half-court offense and the result was 10 unanswered points.

Back-to-back baskets by Logan Scott ignited the run and Jordan Hicks' layup cut the margin to 64-60 with 66 seconds left.

"The ball has to move and we attack you when we find out where you are vulnerable," Spring Creek Jones said. "When we made our run to get back in the ballgame, we played good defense and we moved the ball with three or four passes and then we attacked."

Jones Senior's Glen White calmly sank a pair of free throws with 49 seconds remaining to increase the Trojans' lead to 66-60. Tre Hammonds' layup trimmed the margin to 66-62 and he drained two free throws following a Jones Senior turnover.

The Trojans (1-0 overall) turned the ball over again with 23 seconds left, giving the Gators an opportunity to tie the game.

Hammonds dribbled patiently outside the 3-point line as precious seconds ticked off the clock. The sophomore point guard eventually drove into the lane before being cut off by a pair of defenders. Hammonds' attempted layup was blocked and the ball fell harmlessly to the floor moments before the final horn sounded.

"In a two-point ballgame and our best ball-handler with the ball, we're going to the rim," Jones said. "The worst that could happen was what happened tonight, which was a no-call which was probably the right call because it looked like the defender was straight up-and-down. He went straight to the rim and tried to try to draw contact."

Scott led the Gators with a game-high 20 points. Hicks supplied 15 points and eight rebounds. Hammonds added nine points.

"We had six sophomores out there playing," Jones said. "We made some plays that were big time plays and we'll learn and get better. The biggest thing is our guys worked hard in the offseason and they knew what we lost and they knew what we had coming back. The longer we go and the more we learn and start trusting each other I wouldn't want to play us."

Miguel Foy paced Jones Senior with 18 points.

Spring Creek (0-1) travels to Hobbton on Thursday.