Fallon guard Ali Tedford drives to the basket during Friday's game at Spring Creek.
SPRING CREEK — Coming off a surprising loss to Lowry, the Spring Creek girls basketball team needed a win against Fallon Friday to keep hopes of a regular season league title alive.
The Lady Spartans responded to that pressure in a big way, using an opening 13-0 run to lead start-to-finish in a 45-32 win over the Greenwave.
Spring Creek was boosted by the returns of starters Serima Thompson and Abby Estes from injuries, as both played substantial minutes and recorded points in the contest. It was a crucial time for them to return to full health, as the win pushed the Lady Spartans into a tie with Fallon in second and handed them the tiebreaker.
“It was a big win,” Spring Creek coach Holly Miller said,” Fallon was in our head a little bit, but we were able to stay composed.”
Fallon coach Anne Smith said her team did not play enough of a complete game to get a win.
“We got outplayed,” she said. “We have to play four quarters, and we played maybe two and a half.”
Hannah Lindsay led the Greenwave with eight points, but Maddy Merschel led all scorers with 12 points and Shawntel Andersen chipped in with nine.
Spring Creek roared out to a huge lead right out of the gate, pouring in 13 points before Fallon got on the board. Andersen piled up seven points in the opening frame, four more than her opponents by the time the quarter ended with the Lady Spartans up 15-3.
The Greenwave fought back before long, using a 12-2 run of their own to pull within two of the Lady Spartans just before halftime. An Estes jumper right before the break allowed Spring Creek to enter the half up 19-15, but it was clear Fallon would not go down without a fight by that point.
The Lady Spartans got back on track in the third quarter, opening up another double-digit lead behind steals and transition points. In the most balanced quarter yet, Spring Creek took a 14-7 advantage and entered the final frame up 33-22.
The Lady Spartans opened the fourth quarter on a 6-0 run, which was enough to put the game away for good. The teams played evenly after that, but Spring Creek was able to finish ahead 45-32.