The Cave Spring girls basketball team was looking to turn the corner Friday night against Southwest County rival Hidden Valley.
The Lady Knights entered the opener of the girls-boys varsity doubleheader at the Cave Spring gym sitting at 6-7 on the season, knowing a win would not only get them to .500, but also reverse a series of losses to the Titans and make a statement against one of the perennial River Ridge front-runners.
Hidden Valley rose to the challenge, putting on a defensive gem in running away with the easy 59-36 win.
The Titans chased and swarmed every Cave Spring offensive possession, resulting in 34 Knight turnovers and leading to a number of breakaway Hidden Valley baskets.
“We pride ourselves on being a defensive team,” Hidden Valley head coach Randy Bush noted afterward. “We lost to Carroll County by 1 (Hidden Valley’s only River Ridge loss in 7 games). We ‘re confident we can win. These girls have practiced hard from game one. They were getting after it tonight.”
The Lady Titans combined the defensive attack along with numerous second chance conversions on the offensive end to jump out to a 14-4 lead after one quarter. The Lady Knights woes on getting the ball inside allowed Hidden Valley to increase their advantage in the second quarter, going to the break up 31-15.
The Titans looked to the inside to start the second half, scoring fifteen straight to take control with the 46-15 uprising. Cave Spring sophomore Analea Angel broke the Knight drought nearly five minutes into the quarter when she hit from behind the arc to make it 45-18, but Hidden Valley was on cruise control with a commanding 51-21 advantage heading to the final quarter.
Play from both benches dominated the final eight minutes as the Titans secured the final victory margin.
Angel was the shining star for Cave Spring. Typically a bench player for head coach Jessica Ficarro’s Knights, Angel buried three 3-pointers and had a team-high 10 points for the Knights. Taylor White had 7 for Cave Spring, all coming from the charity stripe.
“It was definitely my biggest night as a varsity player,” Angel said with a smile afterward. “Playing Hidden Valley, we were nervous. But, we’re improving this season and we’ve been in more games.”
Hidden Valley ( 9-3 ) also had a stellar performance from off the bench as Lindsay Stuart scored a trio of 3-pointers and joined teammate Hailey Singleton as both netted a game-high 12 points. Drew Freeland and Yessenia Garay followed closely in the Titan attack as each tallied 10 for Hidden Valley.
Cave Spring will look to reverse the decision when the two teams meet February 11th in the regular season finale at the Titans gym.
– Bill Turner
