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The Spain Park girls basketball team pulled away from the Mountain Brook Spartans in a dominant win on Tuesday, Nov. 17. (For the Reporter/Dawn Harrison)

Spain Park’s girls basketball team picked up a win against Gadsden City on Friday, Jan. 8, to improve to 1-0 in area play. (File)

By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Managing Editor

HOOVER – After a slow start offensively, the Spain Park Jaguars turned up the pressure in the second quarter to create separation in a matchup with the Mountain Brook Spartans on Tuesday, Nov. 17, to pull away for a dominant 56-24 victory to improve to 3-1 on the season.

In what has previously been an area matchup, this year, there wasn’t as much on the line with the Spartans moving down to the 6A classification, but the Jaguars still took the opportunity to fine-tune their play.

In the opening quarter, the Jags struggled on the offensive end of the floor scoring just 10 points and missing five free throws in 10 attempts.

But luckily for them, the defense came out on fire and carried that trend throughout the night. They allowed just six points in the quarter and didn’t allow more than eight in any period throughout the game.

And with the defense doing its part, Spain Park was able to take 10-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Then, in the second period, the Jags finally found their rhythm on the offensive end of the floor thanks in large part to Jordy Griggs scoring eight points in the frame.

Her eight were part of a 19-point period for Spain Park, who also tied its best defensive quarter of the game, giving up just five points.

That led to the Jags taking a 29-11 lead into the halftime break.

Coming out of the break, Spain Park held a comfortable lead, but the Jags got a quick start offensively with a 5-0 run thanks to a 3-pointer from Mackenzie Culpepper and one series where the Jags had several offensive rebounds in a row before a basket fell.

That was a trend that continued throughout the third quarter as the Jaguars were able to put together a 15-point quarter on the offensive end of the floor thanks to two 3-pointers and several second-chance looks at the basket.

By holding the Spartans to eight points, the Jags were able to extend the lead to 44-19 at the end of the third quarter.

Spain Park came out in the fourth quarter with a similar start to what the Jags had coming out of the half with a quick 7-0 run to take a 51-19 advantage, which quickly put the game to rest.

The Jags went on to finish it off with five more points to close out the 56-24 win, while limiting Mountain Brook to just five points for the second time in the game.

Griggs led the way for Spain Park with 13 points, while Culpepper added nine points on two 3-pointers and a 3-4 showing at the free throw line.

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