CRESWELL – Fourth-ranked Creswell (18-6) defeated rival Pleasant Hill (16-8) on Friday night 45-20, securing first place in the Mountain Valley Conference standings for the regular season. The Bulldogs were in control against the eighth-ranked Billies en route to their eighth consecutive victory.
Bulldogs coach Tyler Hollingsworth said the winning streak has been fueled by improved rebounding.
“A big turning point for us as a whole is rebounding, we’ve been really focusing on it,” he said. “We’re really starting to get that now because we’re playing good defense … (limiting) second-chance opportunities because they’re bigger than us. We had to do a good job and we did.”
The Bulldogs also forced numerous turnovers Friday.
“We’re big on forcing people places … we want to dictate where they go, so that we can better anticipate when and where the steal is coming,” Hollingsworth said. “It also really helps to have seniors that have been doing that defense for three or four years.”
Senior guard Raelee Green led Creswell in steals, including five in the first half. Green was a factor on the offensive side, too, finishing with 17 points and three 3-pointers.
“Sometimes she doesn’t get to shoot as much because we put her inside vs. zone defense. But tonight, she was able to get her shots up, and her shot is coming along nicely,” Hollingsworth said.
The Bulldogs had lost back-to-back games in January before its current win streak. Still, the team acknowledges the job is not finished.
“It’s hard when you lose your second league game. You’re like, ‘Okay, we gotta check up right now.’ So we just said, ‘Hey, we gotta work hard. We’re in a little bit of a hole, but we can get out of it.’,” Hollingsworth said. “Now it’s a great opportunity for us, but we’re still trying to put some pressure on to see if we have a chance to compete for a title.”
The loss was the Billies’ fourth in five games. Isabel Hammond-Mendez led Pleasant Hill on Friday with six points.
The Bulldogs and Billies compete in the MVC playoffs this week, ahead of the Class 3A state playoffs beginning Feb. 25. On Thursday, the Billies face No. 9 Sisters (19-5). The Billies are 1-1 in their games against Sisters this season.
