Boys basketball: Smith rallies in fourth quarter for win over Creekview

CARROLLTON -- After falling behind in the third quarter Friday and trailing by as many as eight, Newman Smith's boys basketball team exploded for a 25-6 run to pull away from Creekview and secure a 78-63 victory.

The Trojans received a pair of 3-pointers from Camryn Cole during the run and gained control following a sequence of transition hoops from Walter Rickett and Stephen Spurlock, the latter an and-one on an assist from Darion Brown for a 66-58 lead.

The win keeps the Trojans (6-1 in District 10-4A) even with West Mesquite for first in the standings.

"I told the kids before this is going to be a game of runs," said Perci Johnson, Smith head coach. "There isn't going to be a real home court advantage. It's going to be back-and-forth and you have to take your hat off to Creekview. They did a great job playing within their system but our guys were real physical at the end and you could see where Stephen and Walter got big offensive rebounds to spark us."

Smith had a balanced scoring effort that saw four players reach double figures, including Rickett (16), Cole (15), Spurlock (14) and Brown (13). In the second half, the Trojans scored 46 points.

"One of our key elements is to get out in transition," Johnson said. "We would love to execute, but when you have the athletes we do, they want to get out and run and we were able to do that tonight."

Creekview, meanwhile, drops to 2-5 in district with the loss.

"[Smith] is an experienced team and they just turned it up," said Sean Tippett, Creekview head coach. "We made a couple mistakes and it snowballed from there. But my kids played hard and I can't be discouraged about that. We just have to find a way to win. We've been right there on the cusp the last three games. Once we get one, we're going to start rolling."

After trailing for the entirety of the second quarter, Creekview grabbed the lead in the third quarter thanks to the aggressive play of Alex Rincon and the sharpshooting of Ian Spaight.

Rincon converted four consecutive field goals out of the halftime break before Spaight knocked down three 3-pointers -- two of which were from well beyond the arc -- as the Mustangs surged in front, 52-44.

Spaight finished with 18 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three, while Rincon totaled 17 points, including 7-of-7 from the free throw line.

A physical contest throughout, Creekview finished 18-of-24 from the stripe while Smith shot 23-of-36.

"We started clamping down on defense and Ian hit some big shots for us," Tippett said. "We got inside play from Larry Hughes and we started grinding it out. And Alex just never stops. He plays harder than any kid I've ever coached and he just wills himself."

The Trojans continue at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Terrell.

"We know the second round is going to be tough because the coaches are going to adjust," Johnson said. "We have to do the same thing but not get away from what we do best and put the pressure on our opponents."

Creekview looks to snap a three-game skid at 7 p.m. when it hosts Forney.

"It's a tough spot," Tippett said. "We want to sneak into that fourth spot and we have to win one against somebody we're maybe not supposed to beat. But like I said we've been right there and hopefully we can get it going."

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