BLUFF CITY – Dobyns-Bennett isn’t quite ready to move back inside its dome, but the Tribe looked plenty comfortable in the Dyer Dome at Sullivan East on Tuesday evening, outpacing KACHEA 73-25 in the 10th Annual Food City Thanksgiving Classic.
Leading 9-4, the relentless Indians (3-0) scored the game’s next 23 points, a stretch that ignited an overall 51-3 run that produced a 60-7 lead and overwhelming 73-25 victory over the Wildcats (3-2).
“We wanted to come out and run our style, make sure we played fast and share teh ball,” said D-B coach Chris Poore, who started what has been his second shift of players before coming in with his first halfway through the first period.
“We name them in practice Maroon and Gray,” continued Poore. “It’s not the first group, second group, it’s an accountability group. If your group as a whole doesn’t give the effort or has breakdowns, gives up consecutive buckets, then we come with the next group.”
It’s all by design to fatigue the opposition, something the short-handed Wildcats couldn’t counter.
“The guys that normally start came in there and opened it up pretty nicely,” added Poore. “They (KACHEA) got very fatigued early and we just ran in the next group.
“They are certainly better than what they showed. I think the pace really got got to them. It was something they can’t replicate. They can’t practice against that, they can’t prepare for that. Had they been at full strength and the game been slower, it would have been more competitive.”
The home-schoolers already owned a win on the floor, topping East last week and had lost to University High by just three in overtime. But 6-9 center Andrew Joyner was nursing a foot injury and was noticeably not at full strength.
Joyner did start and blocked a trio of Tribe shot attempts early, but with the game clearly out of reach and a continuously running clock the entire second half, KACHEA coach Jeff Fisher held out his big man the rest of the way.
It also put more pressure on the Wildcat’s scoring leader, Grant Thompson, to score. Again the Tribe defense was too tough as Thompson, who made his first shot but finished 1-for-10 from the field and was 0-for-8 from long range.
“We watched KACHEA against Sullivan East and the Thompson kid is a good player,” noted Poore. “Scores the ball well, scores out of double-teams, you couldn’t see that tonight because we were so aggressive in doubling him every time he came off a ball screen.”
Dobyns-Bennett again spread the scoring with Elijah Thomas leading all scorers with 12 points followed by T.J. Maxwell and Tyree Thomas with 11 each. Dace Potts dropped eight points and Jeremiah Jones tossed in six.
The Indians shot right at 50% on the night with half their field goal makes being assisted. Defensively, the Tribe produced 16 KACHEA turnovers on ten steals.
Noah Coclough came off the KACHEA bench to lead the team with nine points. On the night, the Wildcats were just 8-for-35 shooting.
“Kudos to KACHEA for keeping this game on the schedule,” said Poore. “When we decided to come to Sullivan East and play in this Classic, there were other teams on the schedule that just said we are not playing.
“You have to give it to them for competing and seeing where they are at. They lost a lot from last year, so hats off to them for competing.”
DOBYNS-BENNETT (73) – Jaylen Thomas 1-2 0-0 2, Levi Webb 2-3 0-1 4, T.J. Maxwell 4-7 1-2 11, Tyree Thomas 5-10 0-1 11, Elijah Thomas 4-7 2-3 12, Dace Potts 4-4 0-0 8, Henry Hill 2-6 0-0 4, Jeremiah Jones 2-5 2-2 6, Jerry Sams 0-1 0-0 0, Jaxon Colobro 0-1 0-0 0, Cam Hayworth 2-6 0-0 5, Baker Correll 4-6 0-0 10, Totals 30-59 5-8 73.
KACHEA (25) – Grant Thompson 1-10 0-0 2, Campbell Bridges 0-6 4-4 4, Daniel Joyner 0-2 0-0 0, William McCarty 0-3 0-0 0, Andrew Joyner 0-1 0-0 0, Gabe Hicks 1-1 0-0 3, Timmy Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Elijah Thompson 2-2 0-0 5, Abel Matlock 1-2 0-0 2, Noah Coclough 3-8 1-2 9, Totals 8-35 5-6 25.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL | |
Dobyns-Bennett | 25 | 26 | 12 | 10 | 73 |
KACHEA | 4 | 3 | 2 | 16 | 25 |
Three-Pointers – Dobyns-Bennett 8-23 (E. Thomas 2-3, Hill 0-3, Webb 0-1, Jones 0-1, Sams 0-1, Maxwell 2-3, Colobro 0-1, Hayworth 1-3, T. Thomas 1-4, Correll 2-3), KACHEA 4-20 (Hicks 1-1, E. Johnson 1-1, G. Thompson 0-8, Bridges 0-2, D. Johnson 0-2, McCarty 0-1, Coclough 2-5). Rebounds - Dobyns-Bennett 32 (Jones 8, Hayworth 5, Colobro 4, T. Thomas 3, J. Thomas 3), KACHEA 13 (Coclough 4, A. Joyner 3). Assists - Dobyns-Bennett 14 (Potts 3, Hayworth 3, T. Thomas 3, E. Thomas 2), KACHEA 2 (Bridges, McCarty). Steals - Dobyns-Bennett 10 (E. Thomas 3, J. Thomas 2), KACHEA 1 (Coclough) Blocks - Dobyns-Bennett 1 (Jones), KACHEA 3 (A. Joyner 3). Turnovers - Dobyns-Bennett 9, KACHEA 16.
