By Malcolm Butler
Zoey Venters scored 15 points, Avery Ryan added 14 and Caroline James netted 12 to lead Cedar Creek to its 20th win of the season, downing Ringgold 69-16 at The Brickhouse Tuesday night.
Creek (20-3, 2-0) was never threatened by the Redskins as the Lady Cougars jumped out to an 17-2 lead after the first quarter and a 39-9 advantage at the half.
“I loved to see our energy from everybody tonight,” said head coach Katie Hall. “I asked them to play to our standard and to play the way we want to play night in and night out. I felt like we did that the entire time. We were fun to watch.”
Venters, one of only two seniors for the Lady Cougars, scored a season-high by connecting on seven field goals and one free throw while pulling down double digits in rebounds.
“Zoey is instant everything,” said Hall. “She is instant rebounding; instant energy; instant defense. She loves that short corner (jumper). I love that she loves it, and I love that she hit them tonight.
“I am very proud of her. Every day at practice she gives it her all. She goes hard all the time. She never gives up. She never gets frustrated. She is a big part of our success with her leadership and energy.”
James led the Lady Cougars in the first half, scoring 10 of her 12 points in the opening 16 minutes of action, including a pair of three-pointers. Ryan added eight points in the first half while Lee netted seven.
Taylor Martinez hit a layup with 6:25 to play in the third quarter to up the Creek lead to 45-10 and start the running clock.
Hall was able to empty her bench over the final 12 minutes of action, something she said was beneficial with the Lady Cougars hosting Dunham tonight and then traveling to Plain Dealing on Friday.
“We were mindful of that with us playing three games this week,” said Hall. “After the Airline Tournament when we had to play four games in 48 hours, I knew we were capable. We are able to point back to that and remind them that we have done some hard things this year. We will just dig it. I feel confident we will be ready to play (tonight).”
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Cedar Creek Scoring: FG(3)-FT=Total Points
Alivia Lee 4(1)-0=9; Mary Grace Hawkins 2-0=2; Caroline James 3(2)-4=12; Mallory Smith 2-0=4; Taylor Martinez 2-3=7; Zoey Venters 7-1=15; Sophie Mariano 2-0=4; Avery Ryan 6-2=14; A Boyett 1-0=2. Totals 29(3)-8=69.
Score by Quarters
Ringgold (3-14, 0-2): 2-7-1-6=16
Cedar Creek (20-3, 2-0): 17-22-14-16=69
