Spurgeon takes back seat on offense to play shut down defense

By Allen Etzler
Published in Sports on December 6, 2014 11:52 PM

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aetzler@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Chad Spurgeon knew after his responsibilities changed for Friday's game, he wasn't going to be able to stuff the stat sheets like he usually does.

Spurgeon was given the challenge of shutting down Lejeune captain Jason Pullen, so his focus would be on defense.

But Brandon Gonzalez and Jordan Hicks made sure the Gators' scoring wouldn't be sacrificed. Gonzalez scored 19 points off the bench and Hicks added a season-high 15 points in a 79-54, non-conference win over the Devilpups on Friday evening.

"Chad did a great job on (Pullen) he completely took him out of his game, had him frustrated, (Chad) made sure he did what he needed to do to help the team win," said Spring Creek head coach Taylor Jones, whose team was playing its third game in four days.

After nearly posting triple-doubles on Wednesday, Spurgeon and Trey Hammonds provided an early spark for the Gators. But after the first quarter, Spring Creek's role players had handled most of the scoring in a balanced attack that saw 11 players get in the scoring column.

"That's fun, man," Hammonds said. "My job is to just be the engine and get us going ... When we get all those guys in there and scoring that's when it's really fun."

Hammonds was certainly the engine, finishing with six points, seven rebounds, six assists and five steals.

Spring Creek carried a 24-point lead into the half. The advantage grew after halftime as Hicks and Hammonds combined to score nine straight points to start the third quarter.

"We've had trouble coming out at the start of the second half, and we wanted to make sure these guys knew to come out and keep their foot on the gas and not let up," Jones said.

Pullen finished with 11 points for Lejeune and Eli St. John led all scorers with 23, but most of those Devilpups points came in garbage time. They struggled to even get the ball across half court in the first half against Spring Creek's press, which forced 14 turnovers.

"We played good defense all game, got them to turn it over, and then on offense we took good shots and moved the ball well," Gonzalez said.

Spring Creek has won two straight since getting Gonzalez and Hicks back to full health after they started the season with injuries. They will try to make it three in a row at North Johnston next Wednesday.