MORRISVILLE – Green Hope sophomore Kristen Gaffney needed just three quarters to extend her streak of consecutive triple-doubles to four on Friday in a 77-36 win over Panther Creek.

Gaffney, celebrating her 16th birthday, had more points than the Catamounts when she exited the contest with little more than a minute remaining in the third.

She scored 32 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and forced 11 steals. Her four straight triple-doubles are the only triple-doubles in school history.

The 6-foot-1 wing leads the area in scoring, now averaging 27.2 points per game. Panther Creek launched a box-and-one defense to try to slow her down. It likely won’t be the last time the Lady Falcons face a “junk” defense this year.

“We did OK with [the box-and-one]. We’ve still got to work a little harder on it,” Green Hope coach Michael Robison said. “We’ve got to recognize it earlier. We recognized it a little late, and that’s my fault."

Gaffney was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line – converting two “and-ones.”

“[Gaffney] really does present a lot of match-up problems but the biggest skill that she has is that she gets to the basket on rebounds and she gets fouled,” Panther Creek coach Geoff Bowman said.

“She wasn’t really scoring on a lot of set plays on us, she was scoring on her own. She was just scoring on raw talent.”

On defense, she was positioned at the top of a trapping 1-2-2 press that caused a flurry of Panther Creek turnovers in the early first and third quarters.

“She’s so tall and she’s so aggressive and she’s quicker than she looks. She’s got great hands,” Robinson said. “We do a good job of forcing them to one side or the other, so other girls come and she helps get the other girls steals also. Tonight was just a good team effort first through fourth quarters.”

Despite the triple-double, Friday’s game win was hardly a one-person show.

“If they went out there one night without [Gaffney], they would still do all right because they can shoot it so well,” Bowman said.

Caitlin Ranson hit three 3-pointers en route to 15 points. Point guard Camille Forbes added nine.

“The other girls are stepping up,” Robinson said. “Alyssa Paul, Tyler Hood, Camille, Caitlin Ranson – all those girls stepped up tonight and that’s what’s going to have to happen.”

Nearly every player that took the floor for Green Hope forced at least one turnover.

Green Hope continued the best start in school history at 9-0, while Panther Creek dropped to 1-6.

The Lady Falcons will try to win their tenth straight game – and Gaffney will have a chance to extend the streak to five – on Tuesday night at 1-6 Fuquay-Varina. Gaffney's triple-double streak: 12/2: at Wakefield (56-46 win) - 28 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists 12/4: vs Lee County (83-45 win) - 34 points, 14 rebounds, 11 assists 12/8: at Cary (87-28 win, DNP in fourth quarter) - 31 points, 12 rebounds, 10 steals, 5 assists 12/11: vs Panther Creek (71-36 win, DNP in fourth quarter) – 31 points, 11 rebounds, 11 steals