After a frustrating loss to cross-town rival Reed Friday night, Spanish Springs bounced back Saturday afternoon to get a 45-26 home win over McQueen in girls prep basketball action.

The Cougars opened the conference clash with a 7-0 run over the first four minutes of the game. They limited McQueen to four points in the first quarter and led 11-4 at the conclusion of the first eight minutes.

Spanish Springs and McQueen started off the second quarter with several turnovers each, but the Cougars settled down with a basket from Ari James, who picked her way through the defense on a driving layup.

A basket from McQueen's Alex Hill put her squad within six, but the Cougs closed out the quarter with four straight buckets to lead 23-9 at halftime.

"Our defense was good," SSHS coach Christine Eckles said on keeping the McQueen squad to only nine points in the first half. "We watch a lot of film and the kids listen to what we tell them."

Spanish Springs kept up its attack on the Lancers and outscored them in all four quarters of the game. A rebound and quick putback from Courtney Darby and another layup from Darby on the next possession gave the Cougars a 35-19 lead late in the third period.

Jaci Carlsen scored a quick three for the Cougars to put them up 38-19 to start off the final quarter. Spanish Springs led by as much as 22 in the final quarter and emptied its bench in the final minutes.

"We wanted to get them quality time and get them in a situation where they need to run it and protect the lead," Eckles said. "I was very happy with the way we came out. We had a letdown late (Friday) night. We had to focus on coming out with energy."

The Cougars certainly came out with a lot of energy and played well on both sides of the court. They out-rebounded the Lancers 46-34 on the night.

The Cougars defense held the Lancers' top three scorers - Lisa Grove, Channing Fleischmann and Sara Rooker - to 12 points combined.

Darby had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Her rebounding effort was the second best in the seven years of the Cougars' program, bested only by Kyle Molino's 15-rebound outing in November of 2001 - in the first game in Spanish Springs history.

James also had a double-double for the Cougars with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Spanish Springs (15-7, 4-2 HDL) faces Bishop Manogue on Tuesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.