1 Bruton Stays Unbeaten
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style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Final - - #1 Bruton
74, Lafayette 39:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Not much has slowed the Bruton
Panthers down this season. Entering
Wednesday night's home tilt with the Lafayette Rams, the Bay Rivers District program
currently ranked #1 in the state in Group 2A by VirginiaPreps.com and has been
there ever since the preseason had outscored opponents by a whopping margin of
806-410.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>All they did in the second meeting with Lafayette, a
team they routed 87-37 on the road in the season opener, was get up
double-figures less than three minutes into the game and never look back.
style=> Bruton recorded
another convincing victory, their tenth by double-digits, winning 74-39 to
improve to 11-0 overall.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We have personal goals in-house that we like to live
by," noted Bruton Head Basketball Coach
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Joe Dillard.
style=> "That keeps us with a goal and focus all
year. Everybody knows we like to get up
and down on offense. Being a defensive-minded
coach, we like to hold teams under 40.
That's a goal they come out every game trying to accomplish, and both
games vs. Lafayette this year they did that in fact."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Serving as the catalysts for a well-balanced Panthers
team all season long have been guards Marcus
Carter and Lonnie
class=SpellE>Swinton, both entering contest #11 averaging over 17
points per game. Each is a Player of the
Year candidate deserving of All-State consideration, and neither minded
watching their teammates get some of the shine while they sat the bench for
two-quarters plus apiece once Bruton built a 17-point
lead going into the second period.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"They've made us become a 15-person team.
style=> They're unselfish and they're the
leaders. I told them that last
game. You're being a leader and you're
capable of scoring 30 every night," Dillard stated of his terrific backcourt
tandem.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"To hand it over to your partner in crime as I like to
call it, that shows your unselfishness.
You're not worried about your stats alone, and that has had a domino
[effect] with everybody. They cheer each
other on and you can't do nothing but applaud that."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Junior 5-foot-8 guard
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Shaquan
normal'> Edwards ended up being the game's leading scorer with 15 points on
7-of-12 shooting while tallying three assists.
James Madison football commit
normal'>Kapri
class=SpellE>Doucet chipped in 10 points.
style=> A total of 14 players saw action, ten of
which scored.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>What do the Panthers attribute their fantastic season
to thus far?
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"Our defense and taking off in the first quarter,"
Carter replied. "We have to set the tone
in the first quarter. Once we get our
defense straight, everything starts to roll.
The bench gets into it, the crowd gets into it and the offense comes
along, and that keeps us motivated to keep playing."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Last year in the Group AA Division 3 State Tournament
semifinals, Spotswood rallied from 14 points down to beat the Panthers 70-69 in
a game where Bruton made 22-of-24 from the foul
line. That heart-breaking defeat has
fueled them ever since, and they've kept on winning, even beating the likes of
bigger schools to capture the Hampton Roads Fall League Championship.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"After that loss, we knew the next day it was grind
season for the next year. We came back
in the gym I think the day or two after that, started putting up shots and knew
that we would have most of the team coming back, had a chance and would be one
of the top teams in the state," Carter added.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"This is the year we need to get it and our year to get
it actually. As long as we keep playing
as one team, we shouldn't lose a game.
We want to keep winning and get back to that spot."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Player of the Game:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Bruton G Marcus Carter - -
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>A
compelling case could be made for Edwards since he was the game's high scorer,
but it was Carter's seven-point stretch in a span of 13 seconds late in the
first quarter that seemed to be the early knockout punch that the Rams never
recovered from.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Carter gave his best Reggie Miller at Madison Square
Garden impression. Those that managed to
blink or turn away for a brief moment missed the scoring barrage.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It just started off with the defense, our full-court
press. [We] got a couple steals, a
couple lay-ups right there and a three-pointer before the ball went out of
bounds. It was mostly the defense that helped
out and got us the easy points," commented Carter.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Drawing interest from Division I schools Monmouth and
Towson as well as a host of D-2 and D-3 programs, Carter ranks among the top
players in the state from the Class of 2014 without a D-1 offer to date.
style=> He finished up with 12 points on 5-of-7
shooting, made 2-of-3 from long distance with the miss just popping out at the
end, and contributed a couple of blocks to go with four steals.
style=> Had he played three quarters or more, it
could've easily been a 25 or 30-point performance.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Keys to Victory:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>#1
- - Jump on the Opposition Fast:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>There's
no secret that Bruton wants to beat opponents by a
wide margin and take away any doubt what the outcome will be as soon as
possible. They did that against
Lafayette by going up 15-0 before the Rams scored their first points with 4:28
to play in the opening quarter.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"I'm not certain of the new number now, but I last
recorded it at 149-38 and that was first quarter scores.
style=> We're talking about this first quarter and
the Windsor one, and that does nothing but add on.
style=> I'm pretty sure we've held [teams] under 50
points in the first quarter this year in 11 games," Dillard revealed.
style=>
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"A fast start always puts you in a position to be
successful, and takes kind of the money off your back.
style=> We've shown we can play in tough games, but
as a coach you don't want to do that game in and game out."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>After only outscoring Lafayette 14-9 in a second period
that was below average for Bruton's standards, the
Panthers opened the third quarter on a 12-0 run.
style=> Lafayette's first points of the second half
didn't come until the 4:38 mark, just ten seconds earlier that what happened in
the opening stanza.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#2 - - Aggressive Defense:
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Defense wins Championships. Only
two teams - - Grafton and Warhill - - have scored
more than 50 on the Panthers, and let's be honest, they have the talent to do
it with the Lions possessing the Bay Rivers' top scorer in DeVonte
Dedmon and the Clippers coming off back-to-back
appearances in the State Championship game.
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Bruton
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
came at Lafayette with multiple presses and traps, never allowing the Rams to
get comfortable.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"A lot of coaches most games will only see one or two
defenses. We can run up to maybe about
six defenses, and we flip them up every time they call a time-out and keep them
on their heels," stated Carter.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Perhaps the most encouraging part of
class=SpellE>Bruton's defensive success in the first half was that they
kept Lafayette off the foul line for all 16 minutes.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"We focus on moving our feet and keeping our arms long,"
Dillard said. "We still have a couple
that like to touch and commit two-hand fouls, but that's with the new
enforcement of the hand-touch. They're
going to think about us fouling before we walk in the gym, so it's important we
work on those drills like defensive slides.
It's starting to show over on the court and in the game."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
#3 - - Dominate on the Backboards:
style=> By night's end, Bruton
had a commanding 44-22 advantage on the backboards.
style=> Considering that the Panthers came out
connecting on their shots, sinking 8-of-14 from the field in the first quarter,
and forced 24 turnovers for the game, the category that Lafayette needed to
stay close in or perhaps even win to avoid a blowout was rebounding.
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Bruton
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
kept Lafayette to only six offensive rebounds for the entire contest.
style=> Unsung seniors
normal'>Darius Brown (6-foot-2) and Mike
Sangalang (6-foot-tall) combined for 15 boards by
themselves.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
background:yellow;mso-highlight:yellow'>Milestone Moment:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
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"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Earlier in the month, Carter eclipsed 1000 career
points at Bruton, joining his dad
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Brenner Carter, a 1978 grad and current
Panthers assistant coach, as the only ones to ever achieve the milestone in
school history. The accomplishment came
back on January 8th during the team's first home game of the season vs. New
Kent.
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>"It means a lot and that I put in a lot of work over
the four years here at Bruton.
style=> I know a lot of people thought I was going to
different private schools or anywhere else.
But just for staying here, I know I felt I would play better in this gym
and with the people around me. I guess it
is a great achievement to keep playing here and actually do it in our first
home game here."
"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
href="http://vmedia.rivals.com/uploads/914/1506084.WMA">
none;text-underline:none'>Postgame Audio with Bruton
Coach Joe Dillard
style='text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>Postgame Audio with
class=SpellE>Bruton's Marcus Carter
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
Final Stats:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Bruton
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'> Panthers 74:
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>
115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
(11-0 Overall)
Shaquan Edwards - - 15Pts. 7-12FG, 1-3 3's, 2Reb.
3Ast. 2Stl.
Marcus Carter - - 12Pts. 5-7FG, 2-3 3's, 5Reb. 2Blk. 4Stl.
Kapri Doucet - - 10Pts.
3-5FG, 4-4FT, 3Reb. 2Stl.
Mike Sangalang - - 8Pts. 4-6FG, 5Reb.
Daniel Jones - - 6Pts. 3-6FG, 4Reb. 3Ast. 2Stl.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>Lafayette
Rams 39:
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
style=> (5-7 Overall)
Mark Rivera - - 14Pts. 7-10FG, 3Reb.
C.J. Miller - - 7Pts. 2-5FG, 3-3FT, 2Stl.
Tyriq Graham - - 6Pts. 2-4 3's, 3Reb.
style='font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>
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