BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Bristol, Tenn. – Indians senior center Bronson Flack stood tall and proud.
Flack’s 13 points, three rebounds and strong defensive play had just helped push Dobyns-Bennett to a convincing 77-50 victory over Gate City on Friday morning in an Arby’s Classic second round loser’s bracket game at Viking Hall.
And considering that the Indians had been dealt a 24-point defeat by Columbia (Decatur, Ga.) on Wednesday – a loss that knocked Dobyns-Bennett out of the winner’s bracket – Flack was ready to enjoy a nice, relaxing win.
“We were able to come out and play our game how we wanted,” Flack said. “It’s nice to do this in a big tournament where there are so many good teams playing. It builds confidence, and it should help give us a lift as we head into conference play.”
Jamel Williams (game-high 19 points), Justin Sylvester (13 points) and Jordan Edwards (12 points) backed Flack, as four Indians (11-2) hit double-figures.
Tihlee Anderson led Gate City (4-3) with 13 points, five assists and seven steals, while Cody Salyer added 12 points and Jamie Hackney had 11.
The Blue Devils shot well – they hit 43.2 percent (16 of 37) of their field goal attempts and 92.8 percent (13 of 14) of their free throws. Yet D-B took 18 more field goal attempts than Gate City and outrebounded the Blue Devils 26-17.
“They really exposed some our weaknesses out there,” said Gate City coach Scott Vermillion. “A lot of it is possessions. We turned the ball over a lot. And a lot of it is rebounding. We are not rebounding the ball well right now, and that’s my fault for not communicating it.”
Up 14-12 after the first quarter, the Indians held a 34-23 lead at halftime and then outscored the Blue Devils 43-27 in the final two quarters. D-B controlled momentum and the paint, had six more assists than Gate City and forced the Blue Devils into 27 turnovers. And strong outside shooting from Williams and Dustin McConnell – both hit two 3-pointers, with McConnell’s coming during a 12-0 second-quarter run – prevented Gate City from fully focusing on D-B’s inside game.
“I thought how we started out was really good. The intensity was there,” said Indians coach Charlie Morgan. “We made some shots. And I think our penetration by our guards, finding the open person … they switched a lot and pressured us a lot, and we made shots.”
D-B moves on to face Northview at 9 a.m. today.
DOBYNS-BENNETT (77)
Jamel Williams 6-7 5-8 19, Justin Sylvester 5-10 3-5 13, Bronson Flack 6-9 1-1 13, Jordan Edwards 5-8 2-4 12, McConnell 3-7 0-1 8, Hardy 2-5 0-0 4, Riggs 2-5 0-0 4, Halvorsen 2-3 0-0 4, McGue 0-0 0-0 0, King 0-1 0-0 0, Lyttle 0-0 0-0 0, Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Long 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-55 11-19 77.
GATE CITY (50)
Tihlee Anderson 4-7 5-6 13, Cody Salyer 4-9 0-0 12, Josh Hackney 4-12 2-2 11, Johnson 2-2 4-4 8, Smith 0-0 2-2 2, Williams 1-2 0-0 2, Potts 1-3 0-0 2, Parks 0-1 0-0 0, Bays 0-1 0-0 0, Jones 0-0 0-0 0, Arwood 0-0 0-0 0, Herron 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-37 13-14 50.
Dobyns-Bennett 14 20 21 22—77
Gate City 12 11 14 13—50
3-point goals—GC 5-12 (Salyer 4, Hackney), D-B 4-7 (Williams 2, McConnell 2). Rebounds—GC 17, D-B 26. Assists—GC 9, D-B 15. Steals—GC 14, D-B 11. Blocks—GC 0, D-B 2. Turnovers—GC 27, D-B 18. Technical Fouls—GC (Hackney).
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