MARTINSBURG, W.Va. — Seeking their second victory over Martinsburg in four days, Spring Mills outscored the Bulldogs 23-2 in the second quarter to sweep the regular season series against their city rivals, 73-48.
The Bulldogs led 14-12 after a deliberately-paced first quarter before Spring Mills broke the game open in the second stanza to build a 35-16 halftime lead.
“I told them that we needed to get out in transition,” said Spring Mills head coach Shannon Layton. “We are really good when we push the tempo and they finally decided to follow the game plan. When we did that, we probably went on about a 14-0 run. The goal was to get out in transition, get them on their heels, and good things will happen.”
For the sixth time in their nine conference games, Spring Mills held their opponent under 50 points.
“The goal was to keep them under 45 points tonight. They had 48, but I still consider that reaching our goal. I know in order to compete again for another state championship, we have to get after it on the defensive end.”
Chase Jones led Spring Mills (16-2) with 21 points. Akwasi Opoku-Achampong added 20 for the Cardinals.
“Akwasi does a lot for this team, on and off the court. But on the court, he gets into the paint. He gets kickouts to the Jones’ and other players on the floor to get them wide open shots. Not only does he do it on the defensive end, offensively he gives us 20 points a game and he averages about six assists per game. That’s a tough guy to deal with if you are an opposing team.”
Tyler Jones was the third player in double digits for Spring Mills. He scored 16 points. WVU football signee Xavier Anderson scored eight points in his return to the lineup after missing a month due to injury.
“He brings so much energy to our program. He gets after it on defense. He gets us rebounds.”
Coming off a season where the Cardinals won their first Class AAAA state championship, they are on a four-game winning streak heading into Wednesday’s matchup with Hedgesville. The Cardinals have added a game to their schedule on March 5 at University.
Nykeem Thompson led Martinsburg (8-11) with 15 points. Brayden Amsler scored 13 points and Mikey Green added 11.