HOLLY SPRINGS — The Holly Springs girls’ basketball team was tied for second place in the Greater Neuse Conference entering Friday’s game against Clayton, but coach Denitra Hayes said her team had yet to fully play as a team.

But against the Comets, the Golden Hawks distributed the ball unselfishly, got a team-wide effort on the boards and helped one another on the defensive end as Holly Springs held off Clayton at home, 56-46.

The Golden Hawks had also won the first meeting between the two back on Dec. 12 by the 53-42 score.

“Tonight’s win, conference-wise, was definitely a big one for us,” Hayes said. “We showed so much character and intensity ... it was great to see.”

The Golden Hawks (12-8, 7-3 Greater Neuse) found themselves down 8-5 after the first quarter, but rallied with a 17-2 run that stretched from the end of the first half into the early third quarter to sustain 10-point lead.

“The way they played out there on the court was tremendous,” Hayes said. “It was the first time I felt like we played as a team.”

Forward Teice Ford provided the spark early, scoring eight points as her team continued their run to go up 19-18 at the half. She finished with 14 points with nine of them coming from offensive rebounds.

“The only adjustment we made at halftime was to come out with more intensity and emotion,” Hayes said. Even though the Comets made a four-quarter run of their own to get within four at 45-41, the Golden Hawks managed to open the game back up with a key 3-pointer by senior Bry Holmes.

Holmes had two threes on the night and tied with Ford for the team-high 14 points.

“It just got us in the game and got us playing together,” Holmes said of her team’s big second-quarter run.

The Golden Hawks hit six second-half 3-pointers, each one putting a dagger into the Comets’ comeback attempt.

The first half took just 25 minutes of elapsed time to complete as only six fouls were called. It was a much different story in the second, however, as both teams shot a combined 35 free throw attempts, including two technical foul free throws for each team.

Holly Springs hit 11-of-15 from the line in the final quarter to put the game on ice.