CLAYTON — Holly Springs' girls basketball team found itself in a fairly new position Friday night — in control of a road conference basketball battle.

Most of the time, the Golden Hawks thrived in that role. There were still a few too many turnovers down the stretch, but the 14-point lead Holly Springs carried into the fourth quarter at Clayton held up, and the Hawks claimed their second straight road Greater Neuse River 4-A Conference win in a 53-42 decision. The Hawks also topped West Johnston 47-40 last Tuesday night.

“There are still some nights when I don’t have a clue if we’ll show up [and play like we can],” said Golden Hawk coach Denitra Hayes. “Then we still have trouble keeping our composure at times but sometimes we’re making smart decisions with the basketball, which is promising.”

Holly Springs (6-3 overall, 2-1 conference) never trailed against the Comets (5-4, 1-2), relying on solid perimeter defense that kept Clayton from getting the ball consistently to standout post player Marnikka Young.

“You know what Clayton wants to do from the start: get the ball in the post to [Marnikka],” Hayes said. “They know it and she knows it. So you have to find ways to keep them from doing that.”

Young had just three free throws in the first half but did finish the game with 18 points.

On the offensive end, the Hawks used solid ball movement to get their share of open shots.

The Golden Hawks also sent Young to the bench midway of the second quarter with three fouls. Tiece Ford and Vianka Cotton both drew shooting fouls off of Young in a two-minute period in the second quarter.

Ford had all 10 of her points on the night in the first half, forcing Clayton to make a defensive adjustment.

“In the second half, they went to a box-and-one,” Hayes said. “And we had to make an adjustment in what we were doing. We were able to find some things open on the outside with Bry [Holmes] hitting most of the shots.” Holmes and D.J. Lynn both hit 3-pointers early in the third quarter that helped push Holly Springs’ lead to as many as 19 (37-18) in the third quarter. Holmes finished with a game-high 21 points, while Lynn added eight. There are still plenty of hurdles for the still-growing Hawks to clear this season but they’re already changing minds around the league. With a week of play to go before the holiday break, Holly Springs is already halfway to its league win total of last season and just a win away from equaling their 2007-08 overall win total.

“Holly Springs is a veteran team now,” said Clayton coach Marlon Lee. “They’ve done nothing but improve from Day One. They’ve always played hard and they’ve gotten more fundamentally sound.

“They stuck with it through the hard times and now they’re getting some results.”