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SPANISH SPRINGS — Scoring came easy for the Spanish Springs Cougars early in their season opener Friday night.
However, the scoring pace slowed and the Fallon Greenwave proved they were a game foe.
Still, after grabbing the quick lead, Spanish Springs never relinquished its advantage and posted a 60-52 triumph on opening night of the boys prep basketball season.
Fallon fell behind by as much as 19 in the first half, but climbed back to within three after three periods and was as close as five in the final minute before succumbing to the host Cougars.
It looked like Spanish Springs would cruise after the first two quarters. That was not the case.
Fallon stayed in the game by outscoring Spanish Springs 23-10 in the third quarter. The Greenwave drained four 3-pointers in the period to help its cause. Miles Adams and Dexter Daum concluded the quarter scoring for Fallon by knocking down back-to-back treys and getting the Greenwave within three, 46-43, heading to the final eight minutes.
“We missed shots,” second-year Spanish Springs coach Kyle Penney said. “I’d love to see their shooting percentage (in that stretch). Part of that is our defensive breakdowns. Early on, we got into the passing lanes. Then they made the adjustment and went back door. We never made the adjustment to that. We’ve got to be able to mix it up.”
Spanish Springs regained the momentum in the fourth quarter. The Cougars outscored their guests 11-4 to initiate the final period. A Tyler Emrick layup concluded the run and saw Spanish Springs extend its lead back to 10, 57-47, with 1:53 left in the contest.
That didn’t faze the gritty Greenwave. They posted the next five points and after a layup by Jake Johnston still had a chance, down 57-52 with 19 ticks left.
Spanish Springs sealed the victory by converting 3-of-4 free throws in the final 15 seconds.
“You always want to fight back. You just don’t want to start like that and be in that position,” Fallon coach Corey Williams said. “We just did a better job (in the second half) of taking care of the ball. It’s hard for us to simulate game speed. Early in the game we gave up way too many easy layups. We got it shored up and we just battled.”
Fallon was able to stay in contention thanks to some porous long-range Spanish Springs shooting. The Cougars made good on just 3-of-21 shots from 3-point land. Spanish Springs was able to hang on for the win by making 23-of-33 field-goal attempts from inside the stripe. The Cougars finished 26-54 (48 percent) overall from the floor.
“It’s tough,” Penney said. “You look up at the score and it’s close. I guess that’s good for us, but if we make some shots then our defensive mentality is different and their offensive mentality is different.”
Spanish Springs got off to a fast start in the first quarter, scoring the first eight points of the game en route to a 16-3 lead. Nathan Miller capped the early outburst with a putback with 2:31 showing on the clock.
Spanish Springs pushed its lead to 19 on two occasions in the second quarter. The last came at 28-9 after an Emrick layup at the 3:51 mark .
Emrick scored 10 points in the first half but was limited to four after the break.
“That was a problem,” Penney said. “We talked about it in a timeout. In the second half we had some open shots (on the perimeter). But when they don’t go, you’ve got to get the ball inside.”
Fallon had some fight left, scoring nine of the next 10 points and trimmed the lead to 29-18 on a 3-pointer by Miles Adams with 1:21 remaining before halftime.
The Cougars responded with a 7-2 spurt and took a 36-20 lead into intermission.
Daum finished with 15 points for Fallon to lead all scorers. Adams added 10 for the Greenwave.
Spanish Springs had four players finish in double figures. Emrick led the way with his 14, but Adam Miller, Marchbanks and Kyle Raymond added 13, 11 and 10 points respectively.
“Spanish Springs is good,” Williams said. “They’re athletic and deep. They can go inside and out. They will make some noise and Kyle gets them to play hard.”
Fallon’s next game is on Tuesday against Dayton in the home opener at 7 p.m.
However, the scoring pace slowed and the Fallon Greenwave proved they were a game foe.
Still, after grabbing the quick lead, Spanish Springs never relinquished its advantage and posted a 60-52 triumph on opening night of the boys prep basketball season.
Fallon fell behind by as much as 19 in the first half, but climbed back to within three after three periods and was as close as five in the final minute before succumbing to the host Cougars.
It looked like Spanish Springs would cruise after the first two quarters. That was not the case.
Fallon stayed in the game by outscoring Spanish Springs 23-10 in the third quarter. The Greenwave drained four 3-pointers in the period to help its cause. Miles Adams and Dexter Daum concluded the quarter scoring for Fallon by knocking down back-to-back treys and getting the Greenwave within three, 46-43, heading to the final eight minutes.
“We missed shots,” second-year Spanish Springs coach Kyle Penney said. “I’d love to see their shooting percentage (in that stretch). Part of that is our defensive breakdowns. Early on, we got into the passing lanes. Then they made the adjustment and went back door. We never made the adjustment to that. We’ve got to be able to mix it up.”
Spanish Springs regained the momentum in the fourth quarter. The Cougars outscored their guests 11-4 to initiate the final period. A Tyler Emrick layup concluded the run and saw Spanish Springs extend its lead back to 10, 57-47, with 1:53 left in the contest.
That didn’t faze the gritty Greenwave. They posted the next five points and after a layup by Jake Johnston still had a chance, down 57-52 with 19 ticks left.
Spanish Springs sealed the victory by converting 3-of-4 free throws in the final 15 seconds.
“You always want to fight back. You just don’t want to start like that and be in that position,” Fallon coach Corey Williams said. “We just did a better job (in the second half) of taking care of the ball. It’s hard for us to simulate game speed. Early in the game we gave up way too many easy layups. We got it shored up and we just battled.”
Fallon was able to stay in contention thanks to some porous long-range Spanish Springs shooting. The Cougars made good on just 3-of-21 shots from 3-point land. Spanish Springs was able to hang on for the win by making 23-of-33 field-goal attempts from inside the stripe. The Cougars finished 26-54 (48 percent) overall from the floor.
“It’s tough,” Penney said. “You look up at the score and it’s close. I guess that’s good for us, but if we make some shots then our defensive mentality is different and their offensive mentality is different.”
Spanish Springs got off to a fast start in the first quarter, scoring the first eight points of the game en route to a 16-3 lead. Nathan Miller capped the early outburst with a putback with 2:31 showing on the clock.
Spanish Springs pushed its lead to 19 on two occasions in the second quarter. The last came at 28-9 after an Emrick layup at the 3:51 mark .
Emrick scored 10 points in the first half but was limited to four after the break.
“That was a problem,” Penney said. “We talked about it in a timeout. In the second half we had some open shots (on the perimeter). But when they don’t go, you’ve got to get the ball inside.”
Fallon had some fight left, scoring nine of the next 10 points and trimmed the lead to 29-18 on a 3-pointer by Miles Adams with 1:21 remaining before halftime.
The Cougars responded with a 7-2 spurt and took a 36-20 lead into intermission.
Daum finished with 15 points for Fallon to lead all scorers. Adams added 10 for the Greenwave.
Spanish Springs had four players finish in double figures. Emrick led the way with his 14, but Adam Miller, Marchbanks and Kyle Raymond added 13, 11 and 10 points respectively.
“Spanish Springs is good,” Williams said. “They’re athletic and deep. They can go inside and out. They will make some noise and Kyle gets them to play hard.”
Fallon’s next game is on Tuesday against Dayton in the home opener at 7 p.m.
