Carson Francis, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
JACKSON — By no means did Alexander play its best basketball on Monday night.
However, the Spartans still did more than enough to get the job done and start the season in the win column.
Alexander (1-0) started the game on a 17-0 run, holding Jackson scoreless in the game’s opening period. On the other side of the ball, the Spartans forced 26 turnovers throughout the night en route to a 50-18 rout of the Ironladies.
“We definitely had some first-game jitters, and there are some things we have to clean up. But, a win on the road is always a good thing,” Spartans head coach Morgan Grinstead said. “A win, in general, is always a good thing. We talked about getting the job done. We wanted to play fast. We wanted to emphasize that as much as possible and I think they responded well.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
The Spartans went straight to work from the get-go, scoring the game’s first seven points — five of which came from Kayden Bean. It didn’t stop there as five Spartans graced the score sheet in the first quarter on their way to a 17-0 start.
Defensively, Alexander forced Jackson to shoot 0-for-8 from the field in the opening frame.
“We wanted to start fast and we didn’t want to play in the half court,” Grinstead said. “We wanted to run up and down the court and get those easy buckets and that’s what we were able to do.”
From there, Alexander never looked back.
Jackson wouldn’t take the lid off the net until just before the halfway point in the second quarter when Lauryn Walburn knocked down a triple. Alexander’s offense had cooled off, shooting 4-for-18 in the frame, but its defense stayed strong, forcing 15 turnovers in the first half and sending the Spartans into the break with a commanding 26-5 lead.
Though the Ironladies tried to chip away in the second half, the damage had already been done.
Jackson (0-1) upped the pressure defensively to start the third, but Alexander played through it and kept its foot on the gas.
Junior guard Kaylee Hudnall assisted three different times in the quarter and set the table for her teammates to find the net.
Hudnall finished with six assists on the evening as her teammates took advantage of the opportunities she gave them and finished off a 50-18 win over Jackson — putting Alexander in the win column in its season opener.
“Last year, we lost one senior. She was a starter for us, but we’ve had a lot of people this year step up and fill that role for us,” Grinstead said. “I’m really excited. I know that it’s only game one, but my hope is that we start getting better and better, and by tournament time, we’re ready to roll and have a good run.”
Kayden Bean led the Spartans in scoring with 13 points, including three triples. Following Bean was Lily Rider with 11 points, and Hudnall did a little bit of everything with eight points, eight rebounds and six assists.
For the Ironladies, Sydney Carpenter led with eight points and four rebounds while Walburn finished with six points on two 3-pointers.
Jackson will have a quick turnaround and return to action on Wednesday, hosting Waverly. Meanwhile, Alexander will wait a week before returning to the floor as they host Federal Hocking on Dec. 2.
“We definitely want to be able to handle the pressure. We know [Federal Hocking] is going to pressure us, especially on the ball. We have to be able to clean that up and handle it a lot better than we did tonight,” Grinstead said. “We’ll take a day off for Thanksgiving, but we’ll be back to work all the other days this week and hope for the best on Monday.”
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