McCreary Central hit the first shot of the game, a three-pointer.

After that, it was all Admirals.

Danville went on a 16-0 run to end the first quarter and went on to win 55-33 against their 12th Region opponent. Alyvia Walker led the Admirals with 14 points. Zenoviah Walker and Ivy Turner each added 12 points.

But it wasn’t all cheer for Danville on Thursday. Coach Michael Menifee subbed his entire starting five in the second half because the cruise control was on — and he noticed.

“That is what I had been talking about with us staying mentally focused for 32 minutes, locked in,” Menifee said. “Although it’s a game that we do have control of, let’s put it away. We’re not in a position to blow teams out or anything, but as long as we continue to execute and do what we do, we can make the game comfortable and get the reserves in.”

Photo gallery: Danville girls basketball vs. McCreary Central

McCreary had its best scoring quarter in the fourth, scoring 16 points against a mix of the Ads’ starting five and reserves.

“That’s something that we’ve been working on all year, staying focused and executing for the full time,” Menifee said. “We got sloppy, we had turnovers, missed layups, we don’t guard. Against your better teams, in a close game, those can cost you a game. What we’re trying to accomplish, we just can’t do that. Luckily, it’s the sixth game of the year. We’ve got a lot more time to work on it.”

Danville improved to 3-3 on the season with the victory. Up next is one of Menifee’s favorite times of the season: Winter break.

“That’s what I told them, I said, ‘you guys love Christmas because you get to open presents. I love Christmas because now all we get to do is practice and play basketball games,’” he said.

The Admirals will be in the prestigious Tradition Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington Catholic before Christmas and will travel to West Jessamine for the Citizens National Bank Classic after Christmas.

Being in the gym so much will help Menifee coach up his reserves in time for the second half of the season.

“They’re still coming along,” he said. “They still have a lot to learn as far as what we want to do, and then they’re still adjusting to the speed. They’re starting to do some good things as far as rebounding, creating space, but it’s a process. Six games in, they kind of are where I expected. Hopefully over this break, they can get a little better. The team as a whole will hopefully get better.”

 

Follow Matt Overing on Twitter @MOvering

 

Score by quarter

McCreary 3 6 8 16 33

Danville 16 18 11 10 55

Points

McCreary: Allyson Anderson 13, Lauren Phillips 5, Macey Welchel 5, Liz Anderson 4, Julia King 3, Brooke Sluder 2.

Danville: Alyvia Walker 14, Zenoviah Walker 12, Ivy Turner 12, Kirby Alcorn 5, Carolina Gonzalez 4, Sarah Belcher 3, Kennedy Walker 3, Dora Swann 2.