LANETT — It was another impressive win for the Springwood girls basketball team on Monday evening. This time, however, the team followed the lead of its lone senior, Dee Williams.

Springwood defeated Flint River Academy 48-27. The Wildcats girls head basketball coach Rick Johnson was surprised by the team’s energy level, keeping in mind that many of the students went on a retreat over the weekend.

“They were tired, but the performance was strong,” Johnson said. “Dee did a good job of coming off the bench. We’ve asked her to do that to give us a little boost coming in as that sixth man, and she really did it today, along with a well-rounded game from everybody. I thought we were stingy on defense, and were really disruptive for their offense, especially in that first half. I thought we did an exceptional job, we held them to six points.”

Although Williams set the pace for most of the second half and served as an option for relief on the Flint River’s full-court press, she was tied for second on the team as the leader in points. Sophomore guard Andie Martin led the team in points with 16 of her own in the winning effort.

Springwood’s ball movement stood out as a positive theme from the team in the duration of the night. Each possession, the Wildcats showed patience and took the best shot available when the opportunity presented itself.

“As a team, collectively, we don’t have the greatest speed,” Johnson said. “But we talk about the fact that there’s no human out there who’s as fast as a basketball. If we can get ourselves in position, make the passes then we’re going to be harder to defend because we do stretch that defense with our shotmaking capabilities. I think it’s something that we’re going to have to work on over and over throughout the year. Continue to play at the pace we’ve seen with past Springwood teams, but certainly at a little more uptempo with not only player playing uptempo, but everyone being involved.”

Defensively, the Wildcats were very active and dominated the glass without entering foul trouble.

There were a few familiar faces in the crowd at the tournament, including Tazsa Garrett-Hammett, who’s currently a freshman guard at the University of West Alabama.

“Taking the time away from her team to be here makes it meaningful,” Johnson said of Hammett. “To have everybody back I think says a great thing about Springwood. People feel very comfortable to come back, encourage the girls, and realize that in a couple of years they’re going to be like them. Done with school, into the college scene, and hopefully doing well with their lives. That’s certainly the case with these alumni that are coming back.”

The current group of Wildcats return to the court today to face Lakeside Academy at 3:15 p.m. EST.