FLORETTE – Scoring 43 points in one half with a running clock is impressive.
The Cold Springs Lady Eagles were the team to put on this blitz of points in a 20-minute span Monday morning in the first of three games from the Danville play-day series at Brewer High School's Randolph Ryan Gymnasium.
Cold Springs ran by DAR 65-39 with the Lady Eagles able to utilize the game plan coach Tammy West had installed.
The Lady Eagles were scoring from three-point land, hitting baskets in transition and also scoring from a full court pressure defense.
Eight minutes into the game, the Lady Eagles had 20 points on their side of the scoreboard and had gained a double digit advantage against the opponent from Marshall County.
With eight minutes remaining until the break, the Lady Eagles' point total was at 31. Then they finished strong with a dozen as West rotated her lineup.
Senior Emily Willoughby knocked down a few shots, but also had assistance from starting mates Camryn Crider, Krista McAnnally, Kinley Campbell and Sadie Terry.
Neely Ellison, Zoe Strawbridge, Aubrey Negron and Kelsey Johnson factored in on a reserve role.
Cold Springs still delivered 22 points in the final stanza and controlled the game in all phases to get a busy day of basketball off to a good start.
At mid-day, the Lady Eagles matched up with Brewer. The Lady Eagles were ready for this challenge in going on a 9-2 run to take an 11-4 lead with 10:40 to play in the half when Crider landed a shot from the right wing for three points.
But a couple of minutes later, the game changed when Crider went down. She collided with a Brewer player while trying to get a loose ball.
Crider got up slowly and was assisted to the bench. Her father, Brett Crider, said she got hit on the back of the head unintentionally.
Crider was kept out of the lineup for the rest of the game as a safety precaution.
It was 11-6 Cold Springs when the Crider situation developed. Brewer then took advantage, scoring four consecutive shots from three-point range and getting the lead to 20-13 with less than a minute remaining in the half.
Two baskets by Cold Springs in the final 14 seconds, one from Willoughby and a steal and layup by McAnnally reduced the deficit to 20-17 at halftime.
Cold Springs was not able to maintain a shooter's touch early in the second half and Brewer began to push the margin to double figures.
The score was 31-21 Brewer with 15:00 remaining. Cold Springs never narrowed the deficit to less than eight with Brewer gaining a 16-point lead before the Lady Eagles closed the final margin to 13 points on a drive to the basket by Terry.
Brewer's scoring was balanced with newcomer Shyan Flack unable to get into an offensive flow by being covered inside by Willoughby, Negron and McAnnally.
Ellison did most of the ball handling in Crider's absence while Strawbridge provided plenty of positive plays in rebounding, intercepting passes and getting after loose balls.
Plans were for Crider to return to the floor for the final game in the late afternoon against Hazel Green. It would be a challenge for her and her teammates as the 7A school rolled by Brewer 54-34 that morning and dominated DAR 71-19 in the early afternoon.
Hazel Green was one of the top 7A programs in the state a season ago, but was upset in the Northwest Regional by Hoover.
Splitting their first four games of summer play, the Lady Eagles look to continue developing this ball club with three starters to be replaced from last year's county championship unit.
The summer play-day series for the Lady Eagles continues for two more weeks.
