JOYCE — The Crescent boys and girls started off their seasons with a pair of wins over Shoreline Christian with Jax Sprague and Naomii Sprague leading the way.
Naomii Sprague, entering her senior season, got off to a hot start with 32 points and 10 steals, leading the Loggers to a 57-19 victory. Lexi Dunavant returned to the team for her senior season and contributed eight points and eight rebounds. Mariella Kneiss scored nine points and Kali Hopper six. Eighth-grader Rozlyn Currie got on the scoreboard with two points.
“It was a good first game,” said coach Brian Shimko. “It’s nice having Lexi back on the high post. We had the girls going to camp this summer and get them more into basketball.”
The girls team this year has a big roster. Last year, the Loggers often only have five or six players available and several times had to finish games with fewer than five due to fouls. This year, Crescent has 11 players on the roster, including five eight-graders.
Crescent 57, Shoreline Christian 19
SC 4 2 9 4 — 19
Cres. 14 10 18 15 — 57
Crescent (57) — Naomii Sprague 32, Kneiss 9, Dunavant 8, Hopper 6, Currie 2.
Boys Basketball Crescent 56, Shoreline Christian 51
Jax and Liam Sprague led the Crescent boys to a season-opening 56-51 victory over Shoreline Christian on Saturday, combining for a total of 40 points.
Jax Sprague led the team with 24, while Liam had 16. Counting their sister Naomii, the Sprague siblings scored a total of 72 points Saturday.
“Jax Sprague and Liam Sprague really had coming-out games,” said coach Chris Ferrier. “They were able to create opportunities not only for themselves but for everybody else with the basketball in transition. We got good minutes from everybody that came in the game off the bench as well including some guys who had never played in a real basketball game before.”
Ferrier specifically mentioned Jessie Chartier as one of those new players.
“He played tremendous defensively on their main guy who had at least 6 inches on him and played a tremendous game even without scoring a point,” Ferrier said.
The Loggers went into the fourth quarter with a big lead of 46-29, but Shoreline Christian made it interesting at the end of the game with a 22-10 fourth, getting to within three points at one point.
”We are breaking in an entirely new group of guys except for basically two or three guys. We have a very young starting group, and a whole bunch of guys who are new to the sport. They all have tremendous enthusiasm and energy. So the first game was bound to be a little bit bumpy,” Ferrier said.
“So getting to the finish line is something that we’re going to have to work on, as well as free throws, because we were 10 for 33 from the foul line. Obviously that has to change, but really, it was a tremendous effort from the guys,” Ferrier said. “We were outsized almost at every position, and my guys just battled and scrapped and battled and scrapped and never gave an inch.”
Liam Sprague had nine rebounds, five steals and five assists, while Logan Harris had 15 rebounds, including nine on the offensive end.
The Crescent boys and girls play at Cedar Park Christian on Tuesday.
Crescent 56, Shoreline Christian 51
SC 11 10 8 22 — 51
Cres. 19 15 12 10 — 56
Crescent (56) — Jax Sprague 24, Liam Sprague 16, Mason 3, Ellis 3, Chartier 0, Holmes 7, L. Harris 3, M. Harris, Sage.
