BOYS' BASKETBALL: Spring Creek knocks off Lejeune

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on December 8, 2016 9:57 AM

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jhayes@newsargus.com

SEVEN SPRINGS -- By any scientific standard, velocity equals displacement divided by time.

See also this year's Spring Creek varsity boys basketball team.

The Gators, long on versatility and even longer on defensive rotations, employed all aspects of the formulaic expression Wednesday night during a fun-and-gun, 60-43 shredding of non-conference foe Lejeune at "The Swamp."

The pace was breathless from the opening tip.

Spring Creek advanced on the Devil Pups throughout the opening eight minutes in a manic defensive swarm, consistently applying a revolving-door brand of pressure that created turnovers and allowed just five made field goals by their guests.

Conversely, the Gators scored with ease and entered five different players in the scoring column -- good enough for a 22-10 advantage before most in attendance could warm their seats.

"We started well," head coach Taylor Jones noted. "I thought our kids did a tremendous job with trying to come out and set a good tone -- overall, I was proud of them."

The second quarter deviated little from the opener's zig-zag pace, and saw the Gators utilize the scorer's table like a Grand Central turnstile at rush hour. Senior guard Najee Young led the way for the hosts, handling SC's throttle on both ends and leading the blue-and-green with 10 points.

At the break, the Gators led 40-26.

If there was any stall in Spring Creek's impressive motor, it was found during a less-than-inspired third period, when Lejeune guard Karree Smith and center Erik Seward scored a combined eight points -- mostly on garden-variety backdoor cuts.

But after some stern counseling before the final period, the Gators regrouped. SC racked focus and properly finished the warp-speed clinic with an exacting final stanza, again utilizing its bench mob to allow just five Lejeune points -- an effort which garnered both praise and critique from Jones.

"Our biggest asset is our ability to play multiple positions with multiple guys," Jones noted. "We're long, we switch well, but...our talk wasn't very good tonight. Second half, we gave up some things that we haven't given up all year."

Just not too many, however.

The Gators were led offensively by Dominique Morse, who scored 19 points. His effort was aided by Young and sophomore point guard Landon Smothers, who registered nine points. Matthew Dupuy and Cameron Jones also played well, combining to file 15 points.

Seward and Smith combined to score 26 points for the Devilpups, who fell to 1-4 on the young season. They were joined in the scorebook by Austin Mathew's 13-point outing, which included three second-half triples.

Spring Creek (4-1 overall) gets a much-anticipated home date with Jones Senior on Friday. The Trojans swept the regular-season, two-game set a year ago.