By Joshua Huff, sports editor
LEEDS — The Springville boys’ basketball team wasted little time placing its stamp on opening night as the Tigers harassed and out-hustled an overwhelmed Leeds team in a 62-43 victory on Thursday.
Aggression was the tone of the evening.
Behind a tenacious defense, the Tigers relied on the sports version of blitzkrieg to open a commanding 23-4 first quarter lead that was aided in part by Leeds’ 13 turnovers to open the first stanza.
As Springville head coach Jeff Smith urged his players to play more aggressive, the Tigers jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind junior Jake Goolsby’s 10 first quarter points. With Hudson Kersh playing the role of facilitator and defensive pest, Springville extended that lead to 15-2 with two minutes remaining in the opening quarter.
Leeds weathered the blow and opened the second quarter with a Todd Shrewsbury 3-pointer. Shrewsbury scored nine points in the second quarter. Despite Shrewsbury’s hot hand, the Green Wave was only able to find offensive help from three other players as the relentless Springville defense held Leeds in check.
Springville would take a 36-22 lead into the half.
The Green Wave managed to whittle away at the lead and even narrowed the deficit to 43-32 with two minutes left in the third quarter, but Leeds would have no answer for 6-foot-3, 240-pound Ben Bianchi. The junior scored six points in the final quarter. He finished with a game-high 21 points.
Leeds’ Shrewsbury would be the only Green Wave player to score in the fourth. The sophomore finished with five 3-pointers on the night and with a team-high 18 points. Jamal Jordan followed with six points.
Springville’s Goolsby finished with 17 points.
The Tigers moved to 1-0 on the season. Leeds fell to 0-2 with its first loss coming to Mortimer Jordan.
Springville Girls’ Basketball
The Lady Tigers had no trouble blowing past Leeds in their season opener in a 62-30 victory. A running clock was instituted in the fourth quarter after Leeds was unable to chip away at the substantial lead.