BOYS BB -- South Lenoir @ Spring Creek

By Ben Coley
Published in Sports on November 23, 2016 10:06 AM

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bcoley@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- Spring Creek head coach Taylor Jones knows his basketball team is filled with talent.

He sees the effort, the energy and the passion in a group that includes seven returnees from last year's team. The execution wasn't at its best in a 62-53 loss to South Lenoir Tuesday night, but that was to be expected.

Half of Spring Creek's team is comprised of football players. Since the conclusion of the football season was pushed back a week, those players had a late start getting back to the court.

"(We) played a great ball game," Jones said. "But number one, you can just tell we're out of shape right now. We're not in basketball shape -- there's a big difference in football and basketball shape. And secondly, we just have to clean up some of our communication stuff."

The Gators' football season officially ended Friday, so most of the players only had one true day of practice before the game against South Lenoir.

That limited time revealed itself early in the game.

The Blue Devils scored the first nine points. The Gators' pulled within five in the second quarter, but South Lenoir used a 21-9 run to push its lead to 41-29 right before halftime.

The issues persisted in the second half. The Blue Devils opened the third quarter on a 10-4 run and built a lead as large as 18 points.

"We mixed and matched lineups tonight because we knew our stamina was not there," Jones said. "And we knew that we had to get a lot better. It's not an excuse, but in one day of practice you can't get everything organized.

"Having six months off and then coming out here -- you just have to clean up some things."

Spring Creek showed flashes of its capabilities in the fourth quarter. The Gators outscored the Blue Devils 14-7. SC trailed by double digits the entire second half until it whittled the final score to a nine-point margin.

The Gators' Cameron Jones finished with a double-double -- 14 points and 10 rebounds. Dominique Morse was close behind with 14 points of his own and five boards. Landon Smothers, who hit three 3-pointers, finished with nine points and three assists.

Jones said his team needs to get used to communicating, catching their breath and adjusting to the game flow. He added that the players must learn how to settle into games, something he believes will come sooner rather than later.

"Sometimes I had to get our guys to go instead of them instinctively going," Jones said. "But that'll come. Because those are kids that know how to go, so that's not something I'm worried about."