RENO — Prior to Friday, the Spring Creek and Elko girls basketball teams played two common opponents. The outcomes were almost identical.

But when the two rivals separated by 10 miles played Friday at Reno High, it was all Spring Creek as the Spartans demolished Elko 67-36.

“(Friday) was a good day for us and a bad day for them,” said Spring Creek coach Sarah Arendt. “It’s unfortunate it went that way. I anticipate (when we play again Wednesday) it will be much different.”

Elko hung with Spring Creek through the first quarter and trailed 17-13 at the break, but things stayed in the Spartans’ favor the rest of the way.

Spring Creek switched from a man defense to a zone to begin the second quarter and Elko had trouble scoring against the zone. When Elko’s guards were able to get around the first defender, another line of defense was waiting to block off the lanes to the basket.

“They were the better team tonight,” said Elko coach Karen Hoem. “And I think they’re capable of playing better. We were able to keep it close in the first quarter. But then they went to the zone and we were unable to score. There were numerous trips up the floor when we didn’t get a shot off.”

Spring Creek (3-2) had the clear advantage in the paint and the Spartans’ two starting post players — Stacey Kerr and Mary Suing — both scored 22 points. Zulieka Grinsell was the third Spartan to reach double figures in scoring with 10 points.

Arendt said Kerr had a career game and was aggressive in looking for her shot and attacking the basket. Suing found a lot of success running the floor and scored a lot of her points on transition baskets.

“There were not necessarily a ton of steals,” Arendt said. “But we were able to rebound and get the outlet (passes) going. ... We’re playing really well together right now. We’re able to run the court. The transition was a big key for us today.”

Elko (1-4) on the other hand, struggled with rebounding and its outside shooting went cold. The Indians’ 7-for-22 effort from the foul line also didn’t help.

Ciera Dunbar led Elko with 13 points and Sierra Dumas contributed 10.

Spring Creek plays at 10:30 a.m. today against South Tahoe and a win puts the Spartans in an afternoon consolation championship game. Elko finishes the tournament at 9 a.m. against Yerington.