CRESTVIEW — Any hope Class 1A Holmes County High School had of beating Class 7A Crestview High in girls basketball Thursday night was short lived.
Just how short lived, one might ask? The answer would be less than three-and-half minute, which is how long it took the Bulldogs to jump in front 9-0 on their way to a 73-37 win.
Crestview-Holmes County girls basketball photos>>>
Bulldog Coach Kathy Combest said the key to the win was executing the game plan.
“They (the players) did what I asked them to do,” she said. “I told them some things I remembered Bonifay (Holmes County) doing (from her days coaching Baker).
“Our quickness was a problem for them because they didn’t have anybody that could handle the ball as well as they needed against our defense.”
Tiara Payne keyed the early run scoring four of her eight points sandwiched around a basket by K.K. McTear. Crestview’s early explosion was capped by a Jensis Coleman 3-pointer.
Jacklyn Miles ended the Bulldog scoring run with a 3-pointer for the Blue Devils with 3:58 left in the quarter. The reprieve from the Bulldog attack was only momentary. McTear and Coleman had Crestview off and running on an 11-0 run to push the Bulldog lead to 20-3.
The Blue Devils scored three points late in the quarter to close the Bulldog lead to 20-6. Holmes County never got any closer the rest of the night.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Deijah Spates early in the second quarter pushed the Bulldog lead to 26-6 with 69 seconds gone in the quarter.
The closest Holmes County would get the rest of the game was 17 points with 2:55 left in the half.
The Blue Devils couldn’t match the quickness of the Bulldogs. With Crestview playing a man-to-man defense the entire game Holmes County’s 3-point shooting was limited adding to the struggles of the Blue Devils offensively.
Crestview continued to pour it on in the second half with Coleman and McTear leading the way.
Coleman finished the game with 20 points. McTear added 15. Coleman also had eight rebounds and four assists.
Deonjenae Hendrix scored nine points for Crestview and had seven rebounds.
Miles led the Blue Devils in scoring with 11 points.
Email News Bulletin Sports Editor Randy Dickson, follow him on Twitter or call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Bulldogs smother Blue Devils (PHOTOS)