The start of the new year wasn’t the kindest to the Creswell girls basketball team. The Bulldogs were able to play well in spurts or in half’s but not able to come away with a win in their first three games of 2022. Then the girls were forced to go on a COVID-19 weeklong pause after a positive test arose in the program. So, in Creswell’s first game action back, they showed no signs of rust and left no doubt after they crushed rival Pleasant Hill 57-41.

“Their energy was great they brought the energy all the time,” said Head Coach Tyler Hollingsworth. “It kind of reminded me of our game against Monroe where we had an advantage from the get-go and we played with confidence and energy from beginning to end.”

Emme Whitson (22 points) and Samairah Quinones (21 points) combined to outscore the Pleasant Hill team by themselves and totaling 43 points. Creswell also shot 53% on the game on field goals while racking up 19 steals on the night.

“It felt so good to finally beat Pleasant Hill,” said Senior Guard Emme Whitson. “This is the first time we’ve beaten them in basketball in my high school career. I think it’s also good for us to be going into league 1-0 because we had so many close games before league. But we didn’t win many games before league so now that we have another win under our belt going into this week we just need to not dwell on the preseason and focus on league.”

Whitson and Quinones got it going early for the Bulldogs who jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead in the first five minutes of the first quarter. The Bulldogs full court pressure caused issues for the Billies offense who only mustered seven total points in the quarter and Creswell led 12-7 at the end of the first.

Despite running three Creswell players running into foul trouble the Bulldogs offensive machine opened the game up in the second quarter and grew their lead to 10 at 26-16 with two and a half minutes left in the half. Quinones and Whitson combined for more points in the last minutes of the first half as Creswell was firmly in control to end the half 34-19.

“I thought we did a really good job of not settling for jumpers,” said Hollingsworth. “We were trying to take the ball inside and we didn't really go to the free throw like a ton. But we were finishing inside and were attacking the paint.”

Whitson scored the first points of the third quarter that was later followed by a Quinones old fashioned three-point play. Creswell kept rolling and stretched the lead to 20 by the end of the third quarter as the Bulldogs led 50-30.

Creswell had the game comfortably in control in the fourth quarter with a Emma Maness made three and a Kendyl Whitson made jumper had the Bulldogs in front 57-35. The Bulldogs polished off the final minutes of the game and earned their first win since defeating Toledo on Dec. 21.

“Getting the win is nice,” said Hollingsworth. “And none of the girls on our team have beaten Pleasant Hill in the last three years. So, this is really good for them.”

In each of the Creswell girls wins they have scored 54 points or more and will look to keep their offense rolling against their next two opponents. Who will be against the current top two teams in the Mountain Valley Conference. The Bulldogs will have played Harrisburg on Tuesday, Jan. 25 with the results to be finished after The Sentinel’s press time. Followed by playing Santiam Christian on Friday, Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Stat Leaders

Emme Whitson 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists

Samairah Quinones 21 points, 5 rebounds

Lauren Bailey 4 points, 4 rebounds

Kendyl Whitson 4 points, 3 rebounds

Emma Maness 4 point

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