Spring Creek at James Kenan: Carolina 1A foes battle for top spot

By Rudy Coggins
Published in Sports on January 20, 2015 1:48 PM

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rcoggins@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- A T-shirt hanging in Taylor Jones' closet reminds him of his senior year when he helped lead North Duplin to a share of the Carolina 1-A Conference regular-season title in 2002.

The Rebels tied Spring Creek and Farmville Central that winter.

More than a decade later, Jones is eyeing a possible second conference championship -- this time as head coach of the Gators. Spring Creek puts its 11-game win streak and perfect Carolina 1-A Conference mark (5-0) on the line Wednesday at James Kenan, which is also unbeaten (6-0) in league play.

Tip-off is 7:30 p.m. at Harmon Gym.

Jones understands the enormity of the game from the fans' standpoint at each school, but it's just another game for his senior-laden team that has played an unselfish brand of basketball this season.

"I think we don't really have to talk about it with our guys," Jones said. "(I) think they are aware of the situation. It's a little bit too early to be talking about 'big' games, but I'm not oblivious to it.

"We've got a long ways to go."

The normal mentality of scrapping for loose balls, exceptional bench depth, senior leadership and finding ways to win games has led to the Gators' most-successful hoops campaign since that 2002 team -- then coached by Keith Faison -- had Josh Bishop, Grey Wilson and Tim Pounds in the lineup.

The midseason contest is a matchup of two of the league's top four scoring offenses and the second- and third-best scoring defenses. Spring Creek averages 65.1 points and allows 55.9. James Kenan knocks down 64.2 points an outing and surrenders 52.8.

Jones does have one major concern.

Six-foot-2 center Jordan Hicks will continue to serve a two-game suspension after an ejection against Rosewood. His absence will force the Gators' offense to be even more efficient and not succumb to the Tigers' relentless defense.

"They're so long and so athletic," Jones said. "If you beat yourself on the offensive end and on the defensive end you give them more opportunities to score, you're making it a lot harder on yourself. We just don't have the size they have.

"We have to be really good at the fundamentals."

With an interchangeable backcourt that doesn't disrupt the team chemistry, Spring Creek has avoided the pitfalls that's plagued it in past seasons. They've learned to escape traps, work the ball patiently against full- and half-court schemes, and attack the basket which has led to trips to the charity stripe.

That's been the driving force behind the program-best win streak with Jones on the bench.

"If we're successful as a whole, we believe the wins will take care of themselves and to this point, they have," Jones said. "We've still had our tests just like everybody else. I've been proud of how we've stuck together and found a way to win.

"We're going to play the game (Wednesday) the way we're capable of playing and let the cards fall where they may."